Changes I want to make
by Violet Horizon
Summary: What if Subaru was able to change his past in order to know if Seishiro really loved him or not? But what if the price was something that he wished he wouldn't forget? SubSei
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Been a while since I wrote a Sub/Sei fic, I've been in such the SxS mood latly, I just had to write another fic, and so, wa-la~

Disclaimer: I do not own Sei-chan and Subaru, wish I did though! Ohohoho~ No, I do not own any of CLAMP's works.

* * *

A great deal of remorse and lost weighted down on the new Sakurazukamori as he wandered aimlessly down the empty streets of Tokyo. It had just rain, but to Subaru, it's always raining. He passed by a puddle and saw his reflection. He was clad in a long black cloak that waved about in the cool breeze, he tightened it up with straps to keep himself warm. His mismatched eyes would be unusual to strangers, but for him, it was perfectly natural.

He smiled a sad smile, but then frowned when—in another puddle—he saw the reflection of quite an odd shop. He looked to see Yuko's shop right in front of him. Somehow he found his feet automatically leading the way towards the shop. He hasn't seen the Dimensional Witch since he was little.

Kind. Gentle. Sweet.

Now . . .

Cold. Dark. Emotionless.

Some reunion this will be. . .

Subaru was welcomed warmly in by Maru and Moro, despite the frosty atmosphere circling around him like a drug.

The two girls in unison slid open the doors to reveal Yuko who was lounging on her couch with a pipe that she blew in and out occasionally.

"Oh, Subaru, long time no see." Yuko smirked slyly as she got up from her couch and took a closer look at the Sakurazukamori.

"Hmmm, something seems different about you." Yuko exclaimed as she examined him and messed a bit with his hair. Subaru stayed quiet as he was ill at ease while thinking on what Yuko just said. If he could, he'll laugh about how different he was. How much he changed. What changed him. And how it started. Just thinking back . . . he wanted to know. . .

"Yuko-san. I request something . . . a wish. . . " Subaru first spoke after a minute or two, he was just lost in his own thoughts as he let the Witch do her examination.

"And what is you wish, my favorite onmiyoji?" Yuko asked curiously.

Subaru hesitated for a second as he turned his gaze away from the Witch and sat down on an available chair. He quietly and slowly explained what has happened to him in the past years so the wish could make a little more sense. If he was talking to his grandmother about this, she would be so ashamed and would punish him greatly or something; at least Yuko has some sympathy.

What Subaru's really been wondering, and the only person he told this about was Kamui but he didn't know if he should show his face to him again. After all, he did betray his fellow Seals and went off to the Angel's side.

Subaru wanted to know if Seishiro was really telling the truth before he died.

He also wanted to change some things, his past. He wanted to prevent Hokuto's death from occurring, as well as Seishiro's.

"I want to re-visit my past, and prevent the things that went wrong from happening." Subaru answered a bit tentatively but honesty.

"I can see why, you went through a lot." Yuko once again puffed through her pipe as she sat back down on her couch. Her ruby red eyes were fixed upon Subaru who was breaking more and more in a mental way.

"I'll grant your wish. But it'll come with a price. Are you up to loosing something else?"

Subaru simply nodded. He has lost so much, and now he'll loose something else.

"Your price is that you'll forget what Sakurazuka Seishiro said to you just before he died. You'll forget everything that he said just before you stabbed him. You'll forget his words and Hokuto's last 'll just belive that you killed Seishiro and got your revenge."

Subaru felt uneasy but tried not to show it as he nodded again. He'll forget, and would belive that Seishiro's wish really was to kill him. But he'll probably find out that it wasn't real, or maybe not. . .

"I understand, Yuko-san."Subaru responded.

Soon a magic circle appeared from under Subaru's feet and flashes of bright yellow light flashed up in the air.

"You'll be taken to the time that you want to be changed first. Use the time wisely and with care. You want change, so make sure the same things don't happen again, but don't make it worse either. "

The light enveloped Subaru and he and the magic circle disappeared.

* * *

Subaru was running down the street as he held tightly onto a package that held a book inside. He was heading towards a hospital before stopping. He looked at himself and realized that he was sixteen again, but he was still the broken twenty five year old man inside. He still had knowledge of the future evenst, but of course not what he had to pay to get his wish. He took a look at the book that he was carrying and instantly remembered that it was for Yuya, the boy who he wanted to donate a kidney too.

That's right; this was the day that Seishiro got blinded in his right eye.

This was understandable, Subaru wanted to prevent Seishiro from getting blind since he blamed himself for it. He had a chance to prevent it now.

Subaru's walking became a run as he dashed into the hospital and saw Yuya's mother crying out her son's name as they took him away to the operating room. This day was memorable, he remembered exactly what happened and how it happened.

Subaru entered the room that Yuya's mother was in who was still crying and was looking over the countertops with insanity written all over her face as well as despair. Her hand shakily reached over for the knife as she heard Subaru's voice and the door of the room closed behind him, making sure it was perfectly locked.

This had to work, nothing was going to be the same. Subaru was to let himself be stab instead of Seishiro. He intended on this before, but didn't expect Seishiro to appear. He wanted to donate a kidney to Yuya, but it was only his insanity that got to him.

And now he's more insane.

"Okaa-san, I'll donate a kidney to Yuya." Subaru said. But it seemed like she couldn't hear his voice as she screamed wildly, slashing the blade at the air and then aiming it towards the boy. Subaru didn't retreat; he already blocked his only exit and Seishiro's entrance.

He closed his eyes and sensed the blade slashing once more upon the air.

The knife struck him forcefully into the abdomen and Subaru coughed out a stream of blood before pulling back against the wall. The knife was still impaled into him as he reached for the doorknob weakly. He heard hurried voices from outside and the door's knob shaking. Subaru unlocked the door before dropping to the ground.

He didn't loose consciousness, but he saw complete darkness, a familiar darkness. Though he couldn't recall where it was from. He was falling into his own darkness already.

There was silence although there was quite a ruckus before. He wondered why, but his head was too fuzzy to think and his side was hurting him badly.

He felt the knife pulled out of him and he tried not to scream, but he felt too numb to do so anyways. He tried to speak, but not even a sound could come out. He felt arms wrap around him, familiar arms. His name was being called out as well, a familiar voice. But for some reason he couldn't recall.

Complete darkness took over. But the last thing he saw were sakura petals.

* * *

A/N: I love 'what if' questions, instead of Sei-chan getting stabbed, Subaru did, oh dear~ what is gonna happen~ Now I dunno if Subaru really would wish for a way to change his mistakes, but this is a what if thing. Don't go bashing at me if you don't like it, if you don't like it, then why waste your time reading it?


	2. Chapter 2

Do you know the feeling when you're in a bathtub or shower with the steamy hot water streaming all over you and coating you like a blanket? It feels so good; you just can't get out of it. You don't want to get out.

It's similar to when you're sleeping, you just don't want to get up, or at least open your eyes.

Sleeping for a long time is like being in a coma. Not able to get out. Not able to open your eyes. Subaru experienced this before, but this was just like sleeping.

But really, is there a difference?

The first thing Subaru saw as he finally woken up was a bright light that forced him to squint his eyes. He heard a light gasp, a bit high pitch.

"Subaru, you're awake!"

Subaru's eyes snapped open as he automatically recognized that voice as tears were forming in his eyes. He could barely move himself, his body was aching and the effect of the andesitic was overwhelming. It took Subaru a second to realize where he was, a hospital bed. An I.V. was attached to his right arm and he heard the silent beeping of a monitor.

He felt so tired, he wanted to go back to sleep, but he wanted to see the people he love. Subaru forced himself to sit up, but was settled back down by gentle hands. He finally saw Hokuto doing this and giving him a worried look.

"Don't be so reckless, Subaru."

Subaru smiled as the tears freely flowed out. He forgot about his weakened body and threw his arms around Hokuto. Hokuto was taken aback for a sec but hugged his brother back.

"What's with the tears? I should be the one who's crying. You got me so worried."

Subaru cried softly and kept a hold on his sister. "I'm sorry, Hokuto-chan. So sorry. . . " _I'll make things right this time, I promise. _

Hokuto patted his back. "Its fine now, you're alright. Well we knew you were going to live, of course. But you lost a lot of blood and the wound was pretty fatal. Good thing Sei-chan and I came just in time."

Subaru finally let go of Hokuto and sat back against the bed as he looked at his sister sternly. No more tears escaped his eyes, he had to be serious with this, and not be too comfortable. Afterall, he knows the events that are about to come, and the settiling of the Bet is coming close.

"What happened? And where is Seishiro-san?"

Hokuto settled down on the stool that was at the bedside and folded her hands on her lap. "I'm not exactly sure entirely. Once we entered, we saw that terrible woman and you on the ground, but then everything went black. Next thing I knew, I saw doctors crowded around you and taking you to the operating room. It happened real suddenly and I was panicking and asking the doctors if you were going to be okay. Sei-chan was also worried, but I think I was panicking the most."

"What happened to Yuya's mother though?" Subaru asked with concern.

"I don't know." Hokuto honestly exclaimed as she shrugged slightly. This made Subaru more concerned, what happened to Yuya's mother. And where was Seishiro?

Suddenly there was silent knocking at the door and Hokuto called the person to come in. The door opened and there appeared Seishiro carrying a rather large orange box.

"I'm back from Mister Doughnut!"

Hokuto clasped her hands together in excitement as she bounced off the stool. "Such an obedient husband you'll be!"

Seishiro laughed and nodded in agreement. "You're so encouraging, Hokuto-chan."

Subaru eyed Seishiro suspiciously but then saw the box. He remembered that he was told by Seishiro that he needed to bring those doughnuts to him when he was hospitalized. Now Seishiro was doing the same for him. Subaru's suspicion disappeared as he couldn't help but smile.

"Sorry for worrying you, Seishiro-san. And thank you for the doughnuts. What kinds are they?"

"Angel cream, D-pop and some of those old fashioned kinds!" Seishiro exclaimed as he set the box down on Subaru's lap, but Subaru returned it back to him.

"I don't want it right now, thank you. I just woke up so I'm still a bit drowsy."

Hokuto sighed annoyingly. "Rejecting the deliciousness of doughnuts . . . that is not healthy."

"I'm sorry, but I'll eat them later." Subaru gave the two a hopeful smile and lay back down. Seishiro gave a small pout and set the treats on a nearby table. Subaru felt a bit bad, but he still couldn't get too comfortable, this was serious, and he needed to do this right.

Nothing was going to be like before.

Though, he had to question what happened to Yuya's mother. Hokuto said that she was in the room, but then afterwards she wasn't there. The last thing Subaru saw were sakura petals as well as the black of nothingness. He was still conscious when he saw the familiar darkness, and the familiar dark was an illusion. Seishiro's illusion.

Why cast an illusion? Subaru wasn't too sure but he could conclude the reason of the mother's disappearance and the sudden essence of power.

Seishiro killed Yuya's mother.

* * *

A/N: Dun, dun, duuuuuuuuuun~ I know this was a short chapter, sorry ^^ Actually I was gonna make this longer, but I like ending chaps with cliffies, ohohohoho~


	3. Chapter 3

Subaru didn't fall asleep, but pretended he did. He kept his eyes close and listened carefully to Hokuto and Seishiro who were still in the room. He has to do a lot of pretending, especially towards Seishiro so he doesn't do anything suspicious and pull up any tricks.

So he had to trick the trickster.

Hokuto opened the lid of the box of doughnuts and peeked inside at the delicious treats. "Can't believe that Subaru didn't want any."

"He's tired, Hokuto-chan. But when he wakes up, we can eat them together."

"Sei-chan."

"Oh, I have some tea here." Seishiro dug into his pants pocket and brought out some tea bags that he held between his fingers. Hokuto's eyes widened a bit.

"The nurse gave me some tea bags. Oh, is something wrong, Hokuto-chan? Do you prefer a different kind?"

Hokuto hesitated for a sec but smirked. "Okay then! I'll make the world's most delicious tea before Subaru wakes up!"

Subaru smiled slightly, he missed Hokuto's sense of humor.

Hokuto began making the tea while Seishiro was watching close by. Subaru could only hear the hot steamy liquid pouring into threw small cups. The two were silent and it grew in a thick and eerie atmosphere in the room.

Hokuto finished pouring in the tea and handed a cup to Seishiro. She sat back at the stool, nearest to Subaru as Seishiro was on the other side standing up.

Hokuto took a hold on her own cup of tea and looked at Subaru before turning back to Seishiro.

"Sei-chan, when we found Subaru in that room a while ago—"

"You want to know what happened." Seishiro bluntly interrupted.

"I didn't say I want to know. I do know." Hokuto's gaze on Seishiro was firm, especially as she looked at the man's expression which was calm.

"Your eyes. You hide behind your glasses. But your eyes, they're not the eyes of a normal person. And even though you've hidden it well behind those lenses, I can smell the blood on you."

Subaru tensed a bit but tried not to make any sudden moments as he continued to listen.

"What are you talking about, Hokuto-chan?" Seishiro's expression was still calm and so was his tone of voice.

The atmosphere got thicker, but Hokuto was clearly unaware as she started to laugh lightly.

"Just kidding! So how's the tea?"

"Wonderful!" Seishiro's calm expression changed back to cheerful, but Subaru grimaced slightly by the man's attitude. Knowing that he was only pretending was sickening, but he was getting the catch that Hokuto has almost as much knowledge of the man's true nature as Subaru does.

"That's good." Hokuto took a sip of tea herself and nodded in satisfaction. She looked at the lone cup of tea on the table and then at Subaru.

"He didn't deserve to get hurt . . . he never does. . ." Hokuto murmured.

"What was that?" Seishiro asked but Hokuto shook her head and gingerly took a hold of Subaru's gloved hand.

"Sei-chan. Can you leave Subaru and me for a few minutes, please?"

"Of course, Hokuto-chan." Seishiro put down the cup of tea back on the table and quietly left the room without another word. This relived Hokuto as she sighed gracefully to herself and smiled with liberation.

"You can stop pretending to sleep, Subaru."

Subaru peeked an eye open to see his sister. "How—"

"Hey, I'm your sister so I know, sneaky eavesdropper."

Subaru adjusted himself to sit up properly as Hokuto kept a hold on his hand. "So, you figured it out?"

"I could say the same for you."

Subaru clutched onto his sister's hand tightly. "Hokuto-chan, I don't want you to get involve with this. . . I want you to go to Kyoto and stay at the family estate with Obaa-san."

"What!? But—"

"Please, Hokuto-chan, your life is in danger, because of me. . . I. . . I had a vision . . . after I blacked out . . . that you were killed . . . by Seishiro-san. And it was my fault. . . "

"Subaru—"

"Hokuto-chan, you need to get away from me."

* * *

A/N: I know, this is another short chapter, but it's leading up to the twisted events that I'm gonna have later on, ohohohoho~


	4. Chapter 4

Hokuto stared wide eyed at her brother in disbelief. What did he mean that she should leave him? She didn't want to leave him. This was Subaru, and he wouldn't stand being alone.

Hokuto was about to say something but there was knocking at the door before a nurse entered the room.

"Sumeragi-san, time to take your temperature."

"Okay then!" Hokuto jumped off of the stool and headed for the door. "You must be bored sitting in bed all day, so I'll buy you some magazines! And they'll be _sexy _ones!"

Subaru wondered on which definition of the word 'sexy' Hokuto was implying, And pretty soon he was given a whole stack of the said 'sexy magazines'. His face blushed a bright red, almost like a tomato as he peeked into one. And he would've blush more—if he wasn't so oblivious before—that Seishiro entered the room.

"Oh, what're you reading, Subaru-kun?" Seishiro asked curiously as he picked up one of the magazines.

"Uh. . . it's something Hokuto-chan got me, against my will. But I guess its fine; I can't really give them back to her since I'm not allowed to get up for awhile."

"I see," Seishiro sat down on the stool that Hokuto was previously sitting. "So where did Hokuto-chan go?"

"Why do you need—I mean, she probably went to get some more magazines or something." Subaru remarked, placing the magazine back into the large pile.

Seishiro skimmed through one of the magazines with a plain expression and turned his gaze back at the teen. "Is she getting the exact same kind of magazines as these? Maybe I should help her."

"That won't be necessary." Subaru exclaimed. "And besides, I would like some company. So can you stay here a bit till Hokuto-chan gets back?"

Seishiro smirked half heatedly and nodded, quite pleased with this. "Of course, Subaru-kun."

Subaru sighed softly to himself. He couldn't let Seishiro get anywhere near Hokuto. He laid back down on his pillow and gazed up at the bare white ceiling. One little mistake could change everything, if not, make things worse than before. He noticed Seishiro scanning through a few other magazines. His legs were crossed with a small pile on his lap, eyes focused on nothing but the pages and his glasses were beginning to fall of his nose but he pushed them back.

Funny how the terrifying and brutal Sakurazukamori is reading dirty magazines. But Seishiro wants Subaru to think that he is just a kind and humble man (despite reading the dirty magazines part), but Subaru knew better.

Subaru kept close eyes on the man in suspicion, but Seishiro was unaware as he continued to read. He flipped through the next page, rubbing his chin once in a while to think of something, and taking a doughnut from the large orange colored box. taking big bites out of it (he asked beforehand if Subaru wanted any, but Subaru refused, so Seishiro took a few for himself).

After an hour of silence, and Seishiro mindlessly ate the last doughnut, he asked, "Anything you'd like to discuss, Subaru-kun? You're awfully quiet."

Subaru found his gaze back at the ceiling while Seishiro was still focused on the magazines. "Well . . . I've been thinking. . .Seishiro-san, can you please put the magazines down?"

Seishiro obeyed as he put the magazines back on the larger stack. He unfolded his legs and sat upright against the wall, now at Subaru's full attention.

"I've been thinking. . ." Subaru continued, pausing to get the words out straight as he kept his eyes focused on the ceiling. "What kind of man are you? And the answer would be, a kind veterinarian, of course. But . . . I don't think that's right. . . "

"What do you mean, Subaru-kun?" Seishiro pulled his stool away from the wall and was now at Subaru's bedside. Subaru didn't look at him as he closed his eyes.

"You're the Sakurazukamori. " Subaru quietly proclaimed, gulping down heavily on air as he announced the assassin's name.

There was sheer silence and the only response that Subaru got was a sinister smile spread upon Seishiro's lips. Subaru flinched slightly as he saw that smile. It was different from his masked kind smile; this one could just mirror the devil's.

"What ever got you that idea?" Seishiro finally asked as he leaned in close towards the teen, his left hand crawling over to his neck and up his chin, lifting it up so that Subaru was looking straight into the man's eyes.

"You marked me." Subaru stated bluntly. He lifted up his gloved hand and steadily—but yet shakily—took it off to reveal the inverted pentagram.

Seishiro grasped a hold of Subaru's bare wrist and examined the pentagram closely and back at Subaru. "Are you sure about that?"

"You would break by wrist right now as easily as an object. But you won't admit it, especially since the bet isn't over between us."

Seishiro kept a hold of Subaru's wrist and Subaru was practically wanting for him to break it, but he didn't. He just smiled and just let go of it.

" I assume your dear Obaa-san told you about this." Seishiro stated.

"No. I figured it out myself." Subaru was about to put the glove back on his hand till Seishiro grabbed hold of his wrist again and instantly broke it. Subaru felt the cracking of his bones and winced.

"Interesting how you know this, Subaru-kun." Seishiro whispered into the teen's ear as he easily bent over Subaru's wrist and another sound of bone cracking emitted in the air.

It would be reckless to pull away from the man's grasps so Subaru stayed still and ignored the pain in his wrist. "I guess you could say that . . . but . . . even though you're an assassin . . . and compare me to nothing but a pebble on the street. . . "

Seishiro was ignoring Subaru as he raised his hand to use the sleeping spell on the teen. But Subaru managed to get out of the way as he continued just when the door opened.

"I love you, Seishiro-san."

Hokuto entered the room.

* * *

A/N: Ohohohoho, I'm so evil with cliffies! Oh and I just realized, Sei-chan usually kills with his left hand (see, this is what I notice when I read TB and X so many times ^^;) and Mister Doughnut is another name for Dunkin Doughnuts, and we have that in the U.S.! I was like: "I had those doughnuts!" yeah, I'm weird. Oh and we all know Sei-chan's a perv (I mean, he was hiding in Subaru's bed in vol. 2 for crying out loud!) so of course he would be reading dirty magizines. . . I think.


	5. Chapter 5

Subaru's fear arose as he saw Hokuto enter the room just after he confessed to Seishiro. The man noticed Hokuto's awareness and his menacing smile spread more, giving the older twin shivers.

"Hello, Hokuto-chan." His voice was chilling like icicles ready to fall and pierce something, just like how he's ready to pierce his hand into her heart.

Hokuto stood perfectly still, frozen in place as she looked towards Subaru's direction who was in the same position his sister was in. Subaru felt his heart racing, Seishiro and Hokuto were in the same room, and he didn't want that, especially since Seishiro wasn't hosting the masquerade anymore.

"What a peculiar situation we have here," Seishiro spoke once more, his tone cold and hardened which darkened the atmosphere. His ethereal amber eyes flickering an eerie glow. "Though, I guess it isn't so odd . . . after all, you two knew that I was the Sakurazukamori."

With that, the doors behind Hokuto slammed shut with the instant gesture of Seishiro's hand.

"How foolish, even knowing that I am the Sakurazukamori, you do nothing but stay captive in my possession, "He kept a strong hold on Subaru's wrist. "Just like those weak and venerable little creatures in my so called clinic."

Hokuto dared to step forward but Subaru gave her a look that told her not to move.

"Even if you try running, I'll always catch you." Seishiro continued to speak. "And, Hokuto-chan," he turned to the teen, unaware of her previous action. "I'll make sure you don't interfere."

Seishiro was going to use the sleeping spell again but Hokuto ducked down as she quickly pulled out her lipstick, drawing out a cross and symbols at each end.

A flash of blue light sparked out like lightning and aimed for Seishiro who was taken surprise at this. His shikigami appeared automatically to block the attack which was deflected easily. When the attack was over, Seishiro noticed that Subaru and Hokuto were gone.

Hokuto had Subaru on her back and was running down the halls of the hospital, ignoring everyone as she continued to run at high speed. Subaru was still recovery from the anetisia so he was too weak to walk, in this case, run.

Hokuto got Subaru on a wheelchair and they were now flying, zooming past gasping nurses and stunned doctors who were trying to stop the twins, but Hokuto didn't have time to deal with that. In case the average, powerless staff and patients didn't notice, a shikigami was chasing after the twins. But Seishiro was nowhere to be seen.

"Get out of the way!" Was Hokuto's high pitched response to who ever was blocking the halls as she rushed with an extremely embarrassed Subaru. He held to the armrest so he wouldn't fall off, but he could only do it with on hand since his wrist was broken on the other.

Hokuto almost ran over a few people and Subaru had to apologize several times, but this wasn't the time to be gullible. The hawk that was stalking them gave off a screech like the sound of nails cutting through glass and shattering it. Subaru couldn't counterattack it since he was in no condition and it would be reckless anyways. And besides, been ridden in a wheelchair by your desperate and yelling twin sister through a busy hospital was not the best fighting ground, especially since Hokuto was heading towards the emergency stairs.

"Hold on!" Hokuto exclaimed as she barged open the doors and met with a long flight of stairs. Subaru clutched onto the armrest as Hokuto dragged the wheelchair down the stairs, bouncing and grasping onto the handles as they were quickly pulled down the stairs by force. Subaru felt nauseas by the constant bouncing of the wheels hitting against the stairs. He kept a hold of the armrest with his one hand.

Behind them, the shikigami soared down with its wings folded back and letting out another screech. It's eyes were just like its owner, piercing and eerie, showing off a haunting look. It extended out its razor sharp claws and raised its wings up to attack. But then suddenly, a blur of white soared in to attack. It turned out to be another shikigami but it took the form of another bird except it was pure white with jewels coated on its head.

"Obaa-chan's shikigami!" Hokuto exclaimed as they finally got down to the bottom of the stairs. They watched as the shikigamis attacked each other, crying out to the other in fury.

"Alright, let's get out!" Hokuto barged open another door that now led to the outside. Hokuto drove Subaru off down the busy streets of Tokyo; this was crazier than how they did this in the hospital. Even though their Obaa-chan's shikigami was dealing with Seishiro's, Hokuto still running as fast as she could through the streets and yelling for everyone to move and threatening them that she'll run them over if they don't.

"Hokuto-chan, slow down! The shikigami isn't chasing us!" Subaru exclaimed but his cries weren't as loud as Hokuto's shouting as she relentlessly yelled at everyone to move. Subaru just hopped that they don't get hit by anything, hit anyone or get in trouble by disturbing the peace. They could be put in custody for this, but this was urgent and Subaru couldn't protest.

After almost running over several people and almost getting hit by cars, the two made it back to their apartment. Hokuto got Subaru on her back and they climbed up to Subaru's apartment where the elder of the twins muttered on why their apartments had to be at the very top.

Hokuto got Subaru on his bed and noticed that his wound opened up a bit by the sight of blood staining his nightgown. Hokuto went to get bandages while Subaru lay on his bed, winching at the pain on his wrist and side. Hokuto came back with fresh new bandages and replaced the old ones.

"We had a good reason why we rampaged through half of Shinjuku." Hokuto said as she delicately wrapped the new bandages around her twin's waist. "So if anyone asks, just ignore them. And there's no doubt Obaa-chan knows about this."

Suddenly the phone rung a jingling tone. Subaru was about to get up to get itbut Hokuto glared at him and went to get the phone herself. She picked it up and answered it.

"Hello?"

"_Hello, Hokuto-chan. That was an interesting show you pulled back at the hospital, it was amusing to see you yelling at everyone to move. But unfortunately that made Subaru-kun's wound opened up, you should be more careful." _

Hokuto felt sweat forming on her forehead and she turned her back on Subaru who sat up in wonder. He could hear a muffled voice on the other end, but couldn't exactly hear who was talking.

"At least I can heal his wounds." Hokuto murmured.

"_But you still got my Subaru-kun in trouble. Again, you need to be more careful while dealing with him."_

"He's not an object."

"_But he's in my possession." _

Hokuto looked from the corner of her eye at Subaru who was about to get up and get the phone. "Stay in bed, Subaru." She said quickly.

"_Oh, let me talk to Subaru-kun. I know he wants to talk to me too."_ Seishiro proclaimed.

"Not unless I hang up on you." Hokuto glared at the phone as if Seishiro was in the room.

"_Doesn't matter if you do or not. Like I said before, even if Subaru-kun tries to run away from me, I'll always catch him." _

The line then went dead.

* * *

A/N: Evanesence music is such an inspiration for this fic, fits soooo muuuch~ but when I was writing the scene where Hokuto is driving Subaru out of the hospital, I was listening to epic music! EPIC! Ahem, anyways, even though I'm a die-hard TB fan, I have no idea what exactly Hokuto's lipstick power does. So don't argue, it wa hard to tel what Hokuto did to those guys in vol.2 and what was going on in that one scene of the first OVA. I really hated that OVA. . .the only part that I realled liked was Sei-chan driving his vert van. Oh and anestitics (or however you spell them, that medicine that puts you to sleep during surgery) does make you feel weak and crappy after you wake up. I experienced it and I felt so tired for about two days, so Subaru couldn't do much.


	6. Chapter 6

Hokuto kept a hold of the phone as she sat down on a chair. The rustles and shuffles of Subaru pulling away the sheets sparked Hokuto back to reality along with her brother's voice.

"That was Seishiro-san, wasn't it?"

Hokuto hesitated as she glanced back at Subaru who was soon at her side, a worried expression casted over his pale face. She nodded and turned back to the phone which was feared to be rung again and emit the same haunting voice, but right now it was silent, the way it should be.

"What did he say?" Subaru now asked.

Another long silence was awakened as Hokuto still kept eye contact on the phone. Subaru asked again "What did he say?"

"Nothing. Just rest some more while I talk to Obaa-chan."

But Subaru already snatched away the phone before Hokuto even noticed.

"I'll talk to her." Subaru swiftly tapped in the numbers and held the phone up to his ear. "Hello, Obaa-san?"

"_Subaru-san."_ Came their Obaa-san's calm but unyielding voice. _"Yours and your sister's actions back at the hospital and in the streets of Shinjuku were utterly unnecessary. You could've dealt with it in a more reserved way than to disturb half the population." _

"Our apologizes." Subaru bowed his head slightly before rising it up. Hokuto didn't find the need to argue to Subaru about the bowing. She just sat quietly on the chair and listened in silence.

"_Well, more important is that you two are safe."_

"That's why I called, Obaa-san. I want Hokuto-chan to go back to Kyoto and stay at the family estate with you."

Hokuto shot up from her chair in alarm but Subaru ignored her and meandered rather hastily to the next room. He closed the door behind him and leaned against it as he continued to talk in a composed voice. But inside he was frightful and concerned. He easily collected himself together, not wanting to lend out any emotions to cause liability.

"I should come as well, but. . . I need Hokuto-chan to stay away from me. I'll be the cause of her death if she stays here any longer in Tokyo. The Sakurazukamori will appear and kill her, but if Hokuto goes back to Kyoto and stays there without any contact from me, she'll be safe, because there will be no need for him to kill her then."

"_But what about you? The Sakurazukamori will—" _

"He won't kill me. Our bet isn't over yet." Subaru coldly interrupted as he took a quick glance at his hands. The inverse pentagrams were carved deep into his skin like scars that would never fade. "He won't. I'll stay here, and search for him myself, and know whether or not he'll really kill me."

"_Subaru-san, this is just—" _

"Insane? I've experienced insanity before, Obaa-san, which is probably the reason why I'm not considered normal." Subaru rested a bare hand over his eyes as his body leaned against the door. On the other side of the door, Hokuto was listening carefully to the conversation as best as she could, but it all came out as muffles. But what she could get out of was that Subaru needed her away, and that was scaring her just as much as even staying with Subaru.

Subaru retracted his hand from his eyes which revealed two long trails of silver meandering down his cheeks and neck line. His eyes were blurred with tears but they shinned a brilliant green that glistened like a pair of brightly colored emeralds.

"Please, Obaa-san, this is for my Nee-chan's sake." Subaru kept his voice steady, but Hokuto knew that he couldn't hold in the calmness any longer.

"_Alright . . . get Hokuto-chan on the first train for Kyoto tomorrow. I'll send in an escort at the station in Kyoto that'll take her back safely to the estate." _

"Thank you, Obaa-san. "

They both hanged up. Subaru opened the door and as soon as he did so, Hokuto rushed past Subaru (bumping into him in the process) and hurried back to her own apartment, slamming the door shut and tightly locking it.

* * *

Seagulls laughed for no reason as they soared freely across the turquoise sky. Waves crashed against ledged black rocks and silky white sand that gleamed radiantly against a bright, yellow sun.

Hokuto hovered over the rocks and gazed out at the open waters as a calm breeze blew past her face, swaying her hair playfully before deciding to stop.

She sighed sadly as she noticed the seagulls, freely as they flew, it would be nice to fly and get away from all problems. The seagulls continued to laugh though, as if mocking the teen as they circle around the lone beach and soar to an unknown destination.

Hokuto pursed her lips in disgust and stuck her tongue out at the birds. Then she waved her arms around and scorned their noisy cries.

"Hokuto-chan?"

Hokuto stopped her mocking and turned to see a man with ivory colored hair and dreary gray eyes that mirrors rainclouds.

The girl smiled cheerfully as she waved. "Hey, Kakyo!"

* * *

A/N: Why is it that I usually update my chaps so late at night? See, this is why it's so short. . . again. . . and next one will be short, but it will definitly be longer than this one, and more emotional! Ohohohoho! Anyways, who's glad that Kakyo appeared!? Who loves Kakyo? Raise your hand! Ahem, anyways, Kakyo is important in this fic, he is not a minor unlike alot of fics. . . but he's not that major, just important and stuff. . .anyhow, I belvie this is the first time I added in Subs and Hokuto's Obaa-chan in a fic, so sorry if she's OOC, we really don't know that much about her when you think about it. . .


	7. Chapter 7

Kakyo sat down on the shore, letting the water tickle his feet and soak the bottom of his robes. Hokuto sat down next to him and was slapping swift hands at the water, purposely splashing the young man next to her. A plain, emotionless express was plastered on Kakyo's face though, despite having the cold drops of salt water hitting his face and soaking his hair.

"So how're you, Kakyo?" Hokuto stretched out her legs to kick at the water and was splashing Kakyo more who was staying motionless at the spot, his eyes closed in concentration.

"The same. . ." Kakyo answered monotonously and opened his eyes but closed them again when he got some water in his eyes. He calmly wiped the water out and turned to Hokuto. "But I'm glad you could make it."

"What do you mean? I always come here when I'm dreaming." Hokuto exclaimed as she stopped her splashing and brought her legs back up to sit cross-legged.

"Yes, but, I had a vision . . . about your death. Or, of what could've happened if your brother didn't change the past."

"What?"

Kakyo let out a silent sigh as he gestured his head up at the sky to see the seagulls. "I've had this vision for some time and was too afraid to tell you. The Sakurazukamori stabs and kills you after you confront him. But, this vision changed because of your brother, he seems to have come from the future and is avoiding you from dying—"

"What!?" Hokuto shot up to her feet, staring at Kakyo like he was crazy. "Subaru's from the future!?"

"It seems that way." Kakyo stayed quiet as he looked at the shocked teen. "Your brother altered his time. Originally he's twenty five, but yet he looks like his sixteen year old self. He's back from the future to fix his mistakes, and one of them is avoiding your death. Because of this, you have two futures. One, you follow your brother's orders and leave him to live at your family's estate. The other, you don't listen to your brother's orders and you get killed by the Sakurazukamori. That is all I got from the vision, nothing more."

Hokuto settled back down on the sand, her knees buckled beneath her and hidden in the water that she wished it would consume her completely.

"Hokuto-chan. . .listen to your brother and I, you have to leave Tokyo." Kakyo pleaded but kept hold of his calmness. "Your brother already witnessed your death before, and he wouldn't want it to happen again. He's trying to change this past as well as the future."

"And what? I will have to leave Subaru forever? What if Sei-chan kills him!?" Hokuto exclaimed, scaring away some seagulls who cried out in fear as they flew away.

"I don't know." Kakyo simply said. "I can't choose what I want to see, and if you were a dreamgazer you wouldn't be able to know either."

"I can't seem to do anything." Hokuto muttered under her breath.

"You could avoid your death from happening." Kakyo remarked. "First train to Kyoto leaves in the morning, you need to wake up early to pack your things."

Hokuto listened again to the seagulls laughter, their cries an unforgotten echo. She peered back at one who was flying low, close at the ocean's surface. A feather dropped freely onto the water and floated over to the shore. Hokuto picked the feather up with her index finger and thumb and picked at it before tossing it back into the water. A closing wave soon devoured it.

* * *

Hokuto neatly placed her last bit of clothing into her fourth suitcase. She smoothed out the fabric, making sure her clothing was settled in nicely. After feeling satisfied, she closed the suitcase and placed it with the other luggage on her bed.

It was almost time for her to go to the station so she walked over to her now empty closet to pick up the last hat. It was a black stripped hat with a large bow hanging at the edge. The hat fitted perfectly with her matching dress and heels. She then grabbed hold of all four large, over size suit cases by the handles and set out the door. But then she stopped to take a last look at her room, filled with designs of clothing enveloping the walls was now empty. She smiled solemnly, but she could still make more designs, only difference is that it won't be for Subaru anymore.

Once Hokuto stepped out of her apartment, she came face to face with Subaru who was about to knock at the door but withdrew his hand as he saw his sister.

"Good morning, Hokuto-chan." Subaru greeted and then noticed her luggage. "Do you need any help?"

"No, I'm good. That's of course if you want to carry them to the station."

Subaru's expression was then down cast "Sorry, Hokuto-chan, but I have a job. I won't be able to see you off."

Hokuto felt her heart drop at this; their goodbyes would be sooner than she though. "Oh. . .so I guess this is it. . ."

"I'm sorry—"

"Don't apologize." Hokuto faked a smile and shook her head. "You have a job to do and you have to do it."

"Yes, bu—"

"Subaru, it's safer this way. Now please go to your job." Hokuto gracefully walked past Subaru and began to walk down the stairs that led to the first floor of the apartment. She couldn't bring herself to say goodbye, and neither could Subaru.

* * *

The train whistled, alarming everyone that it was going to depart soon. Hokuto was seated on a bench in front of the train; she already moved her luggage into the train and was now holding her black leather purse that had many zippers. She was lazy to get on the train, plus she wanted to take one last look at Tokyo before departing. She watched as many people said their goodbyes to one another and departed into the train. Hokuto didn't like to say goodbyes; it was a word to say to someone that you'll never see again. It was a hard word to say, a word that gets caught in your throat and you can't let it out.

She knew that she wouldn't be able to see Subaru again, but she couldn't bring herself to say goodbye. They've shared such a close bond and it was hard to break it. But now Hokuto was leaving her brother so that Kakyo's vision wouldn't come true and so Subaru could change the past and future. Hokuto wondered what did happen in the future with her gone. But she didn't want to think about it, the train whistled again as a second warning. Annoyed by the high pitch sound, she lazily got up and swung her purse around her shoulder.

She headed towards the train but suddenly heard a familiar voice calling out her name that was called over all the chorus of voices. Hokuto turned to see Subaru running as fast as he could down the platform. Hokuto eyes widen by his sudden appearance as well as worrying if he was going to clumsily trip like how he usually does.

Subaru stopped in front of Hokuto and bent over to catch his breath.

"Subaru, what're you doing—"

Subaru raised his head up and smiled gullibly. "I postponed the job, so I could see you." Subaru then revealed in his hand one of his hats. It was the black hat with the red ribbon that he occasionally wears. "I want you to have this, just something you could remember me for."

"I'll always remember you, Subaru, you're my brother." Hokuto said.

"Yes, but, we won't be seeing each other---"

"I know, stop repeating yourself."

"Bu—"

Subaru couldn't finish since Hokuto wrapped her arms around him in a tight embrace. "I won't forget, and you shouldn't forget either. Lets not let Sei-chan change that, alright? And please, promise me that you'll take care of yourself."

Subaru hugged Hokuto back. "I promise."

"And promise me that you'll continue to wear my designs."

". . .I promise."

"And that you'll sleep and eat more."

"Alright."

"And—"

"Hokuto-chan, you should be going."

Hokuto let go of Subaru and smiled brightly. "Alright, I'm off." She then hopped aboard the train just when it was about to leave. Hokuto quickly came to a window and peered out to see Subaru still on the platform. She waved happily as she replaced her hat with Subaru's. "Now I can pretend to be you more often now!"

Subaru smiled and waved back, he whispered a 'yeah' and watched as the train disappeared with his laughing and waving sister.

Hokuto walked down an aisle before taking a seat across from someone who was reading the newspaper. She unzipped her purse to get out some makeup as she heard the unfolding of the newspaper. She looked up and was now staring into a set of familiar haunting amber eyes and an amused smile.

"Congratulations, Hokuto-chan, you found me."

* * *

A/N: Dun, dun, duuuuuuuuuuun~ oh, and I dunno if Tokyo has any of those old fashioned trains, I didn't feel like talking about the high tech ones. Also, this was written at 4 in the morning, so there's probaly some grammatical mistakes, and now I should go to bed. Good thing this is a Saturday night, or Sunday morning ^^;


	8. Chapter 8

"I didn't intend on looking for you, Sei-chan." Hokuto remarked as she got out some blush and a small mirror from her purse.

Seishiro chuckled lightly just as the train set off on its journey. "Still calling me Sei-chan, eh? Shouldn't you be calling me the Sakurazukamori?"

"I'm too lazy to pronounce such a long name." Hokuto bluntly said as she lightly patted the blush on her cheeks while glancing at her mirror.

"I see. Then I guess I should still call you Hokuto-_chan_." Seishiro proclaimed as he set the newspaper down beside him.

"That's fine, Sei-_chan_. I appreciate your respect." Hokuto continued to pat her cheeks, not bothering to glance up at the older man who was patiently sitting across from her with a naive smile. Behind him was Tokyo being driven further and further away by hills and the closing in countryside. The sun climbed itself above the hills and buildings and sparked a blazing shine of gold over the land. The early morning acted like late afternoon turning into dusk to fool the course of time, but yet the day was still too early for it to end.

"Are you heading to Kyoto as well?" Hokuto asked after five minutes of silence between the two, the distant chatter of the other passengers were just illusions. Hokuto put away her blush and got out some lip gloss "I'm sure my Obaa-chan would be _very_ interested in seeing you."

There was that haunting laugh again that acted like a childish laugh. "I don't think your dear Obaa-chan would want to see me, besides I'm going to Nagoya."

"Oh? What're you going to be doing over there?" Hokuto asked curiously while tracing the coconut flavored lip gloss on her lips.

"Sightseeing. They have the Higashiyama zoo over there. I'm sure Subaru-kun would be quite interested in that. I would've loved to take him, but he just got out of the hospital and he can't travel much. Unlike a certain someone who decided to drag him out of the hospital, nearly having him clinging to life."

Hokuto frowned and screwed the cap of the gloss tightly back on. "If we stayed, you would've killed us."

"I wouldn't kill Subaru-kun, but I most likely would've killed you." Seishiro remarked.

"Then why aren't you killing me right now?"

"Do you want me to kill you?"

Hokuto grew quiet but she smiled a similar smile to Seishiro's except that it was more graceful. She put away the gloss but kept her mirror out.

"That would be pointless, Sei-chan. Very, pointless, actually it's so pointless that I don't think you even _thought_ about killing me. Plus, this is a new outfit and it would be ashame to get it dirty." Hokuto fastened her hat back on her head while having Subaru's hat on her lap.

"True, it would be pointless," Seishiro admitted. "Besides, you're away from Subaru-kun."

"It's the way it should be."

"You're right, it should."

Hokuto's frown was still clearly visible but no use of anger erupted out of her mouth. She took a quick glance at her reflection and then gestured the mirror slightly to the side so that she could see Seishiro's reflection. He was clad in a black suit, not something that Hokuto has seen him wear before, but this was what he, as the Sakurazukamori occasionally wears.

"You got some dark fashion taste," Hokuto commented. "but shouldn't you wear a pink suit instead? After all, you are the Sakurazukamori. Pink will fit you nicely."

"Oh, you said my title—"

"Don't change the subject, especially when I'm discussing about fashion." Hokuto glared at Seishiro's reflection and then got out two bottles of white and black nail polish. She placed her right hand first on the armrest as she dabbed a bit of the white paint on her thumb and did the same on her index except that it was black.

"I wasn't able to get much makeup done since I was in a bit of a hurry to get on the train. It's not good for young ladies such as myself to wake up so early, and it's already bad enough with school." Hokuto murmured mostly to herself as she continued to delicately paint her nails.

"Being a teenager is rough, isn't it?"

"Don't act like you're an old geezer, you were a teen not too long ago." Hokuto soon finished mismatching her right hand with white and black and set off to do her left hand. "Besides, most of your life you just killed people; I don't believe you went to school."

"Of course I went to school, if I didn't, I would be dumb."

Hokuto smirked as she finished off painting her thumb black. "All your education focused on your job. Not going to school wouldn't make you dumb, going to school was just a cover up, besides you probably had tutors when you were little, similar to what Subaru and I had."

"You're right, I did have tutors—"

"And then you killed them."

"No, my Okaa-san did that, she was a bit too protective over me." Seishiro gazed back behind him at the scenery. The train was crossing over a bridge, the train slightly shaking and rocking by the rough surface underneath.

"Hmm, killing in order to protect, that sounds like you, Sei-chan." Hokuto blew her fingers so they could dry quickly and waved them about.

"What do you mean?"

Hokuto took a break from blowing and looked straight at Seishiro and not at his reflection. "You killed Yuya's Okaa-san in order to protect Subaru."

"Who said that I killed her?"

"Then where is she?"

Seishiro shrugged and picked up the newspaper, opening up to a certain section. "I was reading something interesting before you came along."

"You're changing the subject again." Hokuto muttered in annoyance, her lack of patience rising up to a new level.

"The economy isn't going too well—"

"I already know who you are so you can't hide anything from me."

Seishiro flipped to a different page and read through the articles as he continued to ignore Hokuto. The teen was outraged but she didn't show it, she got out some eyeliner and proceeded to work as she waited for a response. When she didn't get one, she asked another question.

"What are your feelings for Subaru anyways?"

Seishiro flipped through another page and was silent.

"Does it have to do with the bet?"

"What bet?"

"You tell me."

Seishiro flipped to another page but then Hokuto angrily ripped the newspaper out of Seishiro's hands.

"You better tell me what's going on in that sick mind of yours, Sei-chan."

It was an amusing sight instead of a threatening actually; Hokuto had layers of bright red blush on her cheeks, she had eyeliner on one of her eyes and the amount of lip gloss made her lips a bit puffy. Overall, she looked like a zombie or a clown and Seishiro had to let out another chuckle.

"Is there a circus going on in Kyoto, Hokuto-chan? Maybe I should skip my visit in Nagoya and come see you."

Hokuto's eye twitched in disgust and looked at herself in the mirror, she put on too much makeup without noticing. She got out a handkerchief and whipped the makeup off of her face in an irritated manner. When she was done, Seishiro was gone, and the only thing left behind was a black ofuda with the inverse pentagram, sakura petals and a neatly folded up newspaper at the side.

* * *

A/N: I know nothing of the geography of Japan excpt that Tokyo's the capital, Kyoto is another important city and I had to do research to see what city is between those two. Also, midway through this chapter I relized that Sei-chan was reading a magizine when he and Subaru were alone, and now Seishiro was reading a newspaper when he and Hokuto were alone. Also it's hard writing about Sei-chan's charecter, espeically in a serious fic, I mean, he's such a complicated charecter and so writing his charecter in a fic like this is haaaard.


	9. Chapter 9

Once Hokuto stepped off of the train, she met up with her escort who safely took her to the Sumeragi estate as promised. Hokuto was quiet the entire trip, but she knew she would have to tell her Obaa-san what happened on the train. But before they got to the estate, Hokuto wanted to make a call at a nearby phone booth. Her escort let her and waited outside as Hokuto made her call.

She rummaged through her purse before getting out a few coins and inserting them one by one in the slot. She clicked in several numbers and pressed the phone to her ear, waiting patiently for an answer.

"_Hello?"_ Came Subaru's quiet voice and that made Hokuto smile and her eyes glitter with tears. She was glad that Subaru was alright and was happy to hear his voice.

"Hey, Subaru, it's your favorite sis." Hokuto said.

"_Hokuto-chan! You shouldn't be calling—" _

"I know, this will be our last conversation, I promise. I just miss you, that's all."

"_I miss you too, Hokuto-chan. You're in Kyoto now, right?" _

"Yes."

"_How was the trip?" _

"Alright, I was sleeping the whole way down. Those seats are not comfortable, if I were to design those trains, there would be soft pillows and blankets everywhere. Oh and they need to be in a different color, like hot pink or something."

"_Maybe you can design the next big train of the new millennium, Hokuto-chan." _

"Nah, my only dream for the future is to become a housewife."

"_Hope it comes true." _

"Thanks, and hopefully you become a zookeeper!"

"_I don't think—" _

"Subaru, what have I told you? Don't give up on your dreams!"

"_Yes, you told me . . . I'll see what I can do. Also, Hokuto-chan, remember when you, Seishiro-san and I were discussing about 1999?" _

"Yeah, what about it?"

"_Please be careful when that time comes." _

"Oh don't tell me you believe in that."

"_It's the truth, Hokuto-chan. Now promise me you'll always stay in Kyoto, especially when that time comes." _

"Subaru—"

"_Promise me, please." _

". . . I promise."

"_Thank you. Now I best be going, I have a job to do." _

"Oh, alright."

"_Remember the promise." _

"I will."

"_Thank you, goodbye, Hokuto-chan." _

Hokuto nodded as tears freely streamed out of her eyes.

"Take good care of yourself. "

The two hanged up.

Subaru's hand shook slightly as he hanged up the phone. He settled it back down on the table and plopped down on his bed. He looked up at the ceiling and closed his eyes, a frown now crossing his lips as he spoke.

"Isn't today the settling of the bet, Seishiro-san?"

Seishiro entered the bedroom in his black attire. He took off his glasses and smiled at the teen casually.

"It is."

* * *

A/N: I know, this was another short chapter, but it leaves you guys questions, right? (not like any of the other chaps did. . . ) Anyhow, there's gonna be a TWIST next chapter! Actually this fic is filled with twists~


	10. Chapter 10

The sun's final rays bleed out through the windows in colors of yellow and orange. The plants that were recently watered had its droplets of tears dripping down from the leaves into the soil. One by one, tiny splashes stained the soil to a moist black color, but by the sun's light . . . it could mirror blood stains.

Subaru sat up straight with his legs buckled against the bed and arms folded loosely. His large emerald eyes sparkled dimly with the rays, but no sense of pettiness was shown as the teen that is really the broken men frown at the latter who destroyed his whole being in the past, and might do so again, breaking him down into more lunacy.

Seishiro appeared like a shadow before the younger man. His frame—cloaked in black—opposed the bright colors of the drifting sun that was ready to sleep. He smelt of a mix of both cigarettes and blood that disgusted Subaru but some how allured him as a new scent lingered in—sakura petals.

He stayed at his spot just a few feet from the boy, but even his presence acted like a hand chocking the teen with misery.

"So, how do you know about the bet, Subaru-kun?" Seishiro finally spoke. "I erased your memories."

"I told you, I figured it out myself. The bet was that if we were to ever to meet again, you will try to learn to love me for one year. And if you do love me, I'll be your special person. But if you don't fall in love with me, you'll kill me. So what is it going to be Seishiro-san?"

Seishiro drew out a cigarette from his pocket and placed it droopily between his lips. He flicked on a lighter with another hand and lit the cigarette. He breathed in noiselessly before letting out a long drag of faint gray smoke through the air. The smoke glided towards Subaru, but he made no reaction to it as he stared blankly at the older man.

"You said that you loved me in the hospital." Seishiro continued, letting lose of the cigarette from his mouth and having it hang between his index and middle finger. "How could you love someone who cannot return that love?"

Subaru waved a hand to brush away incoming smoke.

"Your beloved sister told me that a while ago . . . the people you meet, you bring in their pain and sorrows like they're your own. Are you trying to do the same for me? You should realize by now that I feel no pain or sorrow or even this love that you want me to believe." Seishiro exclaimed.

"But you're lonely." Subaru confirmed scooting back slightly from the smoke that has now died down. "Those who kill. . . are just lonely. . . a spirit once told me that."

"Which spirit was this? Certainly it can't know what my feelings are."

"True, but, I know what you feel, and it's similar to how I feel . . . we're both bounded by our clans, not knowing what it's like to be normal. We have jobs to do, every single day, and we don't have time to appreciate what's around us. We don't know our true feelings of the people around us . . . you just kill who you want to kill and I save who I need to save, but neither of us know how to truly love. We're just lonely."

Seishiro let out another drag of smoke and smirked. "Me? Lonely? I don't have the slightest clue what you're talking about. But it's not just killing who I want to kill, sometime there's a need to kill, like the animals in my shelter for example. Do you want to see what I've done to them? It will truly horrify you, and I bet you'll change your mind about me."

Subaru furrowed his eyebrows and grimaced in repulsion. He forced himself to stand up and mindlessly clutched his fists as he headed towards the door. "Don't worry, you won't see a change."

* * *

Day had fallen and night awoken when the two came to the clinic. It was dark and utterly silent inside of the clinic. A repulsive odor made Subaru sick to his stomach and gasp for breath. Seishiro was perfectly fine and just smiled as he switched on the lights.

The pale white lights shinned down onto all of the cages and revealed a gruesome sight that almost made Subaru faint. All of the animals had their intestines dangling out of their limp, mangled bodies. Last drops of blood dripped down from the cages to form a large pool of not just the red liquid, but the rest of their flesh torn to threads.

Subaru's body shook violently and anger blazed in his eyes, but he couldn't reveal any of that towards Seishiro who continued to smoke lazily. He kept a joyful grin upon his lips as he gazed without a care at his work.

"I told you this when I trailed a puppy's blood down your neck and onto your clothes. The weak die first."

"You did _what_?" Subaru's eyes widen, like there wasn't anything else to be fearful of.

Seishiro chuckled bitterly and walked over to one of the cages to pick up a dead puppy. It lay limp in the man's arms with a gapping hole through its body like the rest of the animals, except that its eyes were open and struck an appalling expression.

"After I killed Nagi Kumiko-sensei, I brought you to my clinic where I had a fun time explaining to your unconscious body why I killed these animals, and wondered, what would happen if you found out. Would you still smile and treat me kindly like others, would you still be able to love me, Subaru-kun?"

Seishiro faced a shocked Subaru who was lost without any words to say. He knew that Seishiro killed the animals in his clinic, but actually seeing these animals in front of him within these mangled positions concluded with the unbearable smell was horrendous.

Seishiro dug his hand into the dog's insides before withdrawing his fingers that were now coated in the fresh, warm blood.

"I did something like this." Seishiro clamped his bloody fingers over Subaru's bare neck and slid his fingers downward towards his collar where he grasped a hold of it and pulled Subaru towards him. "So what do you think of me now, Sumeragi Subaru-kun?"

Subaru's shocked expression changed to solemn as he secretly took a hold of Seishiro's lighter. He flicked it on and the tiny flame brightened Subaru's now emotionless eyes.

"Like I said before, Seihsiro-san, you won't see a change."

As Subaru quickly chanted a spell and tossed the lighter to the floor, a column of flames shot up from the lighter and was swiftly consuming whatever stood in their way, starting with the animals. Seishiro let go of Subaru and stared approvingly at the flames.

"Hiding evidence that I killed these animals, aren't you? " Seishiro proclaimed as he drew out another cigarette since the other fell accidental when he saw Subaru grab hold of his lighter. The man kept the cigarette in his mouth loosely and watched as the wall of flames expanded and bursts of smoke fogged up the clinic. The fire broke through all of the windows, letting out more smoke as the clinic was being destroyed.

Subaru coughed out violently by the smoke and his eyes watered but Seishiro was just fine. He watched the flames with a sadistic smile and his eyes were parallel with the flames light as they continued to glow a blazing gold.

"I wonder what's worse, me killing these animals and letting them rot, or having them be cremated as this building crushes down on their bodies. I wonder if you can hear their spirit's screams, begging for the flames to stop, but they can't scream, they're just insignificant objects just like you."

Subaru noticed the dead puppy near his feet and brought it into his arms, but then Seishiro came up to him, grabbed the dog and tossed it into the flames with the other animals. Subaru watched in horror as the dog was devoured by the hungry flames.

"Why that face? Isn't this what you wanted?" You don't want anyone to know that I am the Sakurazukamori." Seishiro exclaimed as he stepped closer towards Subaru who stepped back.

The flames circled around the two, swirling around in a dance as the building was beginning to crumble down. Subaru had no way out of this unless he wanted to risk running through the flames to get to the outside, but that was reckless.

Seishiro just smirked, acting like they weren't in the middle of a crumbling building surrounded by flames. He placed a hand on Subaru's neck where there was still blood and grasped a tight hold on it. Subaru struggled for air but could barely and it didn't help with the smoke. He could only breathe in the smoke that forced him to cough some more.

Then his mind blackened like the smoke and he fell limp into the man's arms. Seishiro held Subaru possessively from the flames grasps as he hurriedly carried him out of the clinic which finally collapsed to the ground. The flames were still burning and smoke has risen up to the sky just as the howling sound of sirens cried out in the night.

* * *

A/N: I hated writing about the dead animals, I love animals, dang it! Don't make me write about dead animals again! -fumes- anyhow. . . um. . .great, I forgot what I was gonna say and it was something about this chappie. . . ah, well, hope you liked the Subaru torture I brought in, ohohoho~ Oh and I was also listening to X Japan music while working on this chap, fits pretty nicely ^^


	11. Chapter 11

Raging fire changed from a brightening gold to a frightening crimson as bodies were thrown into the inferno. The fire screamed some more, frantically tossing and turning their arms upwards and downwards and back and forth in a desperate motion. Their cries echoed, howling through the crumbling sound of the building; plunging to the ground in a heap.

Seishiro held Subaru by the neck as he had him raised above the flames. Subaru struggled to be free, but yet he can never be. There was amusement in those haunting amber eyes of the assassin, watching his prey struggle before throwing him into the flames.

* * *

Subaru woke up with a start with beads of sweat streaming down his paled face. His breathing was quick and unsteady and he found himself in an uncomfortable position—tangled up in his bed sheets from fidgeting around in his sleep. He threw the covers off of him and almost fell off of his bed by doing so. He brushed off sweat from his forehead and lay back down on the bed, gazing up at the ceiling and figuring out what happened the other night.

He wasn't killed by the Sakurazukamori.

Subaru frowned disapprovingly as he sat up and plunged his fist at the wall. He kept his fist clutch but retracted it from the wall that now had a gap with cracks cutting through it. He then bashed his head in to create a larger gap as he repeatedly questioned himself "Why? Why am I still alive? Why didn't he kill me?" The day of the bet was over, it was the next morning, and dusk has now approached the window inhospitably.

Seishiro knocked him out but didn't erase his memories of the events of last night. Because of the sick memories that he was reminded of with the dead animals, he bend over and threw up on the floor. He coughed but only spewed up more and not just the gruesome material but blood as well. Subaru subconsciously rolled off of his bed and landed hard on his back; feeling dazed, confused, hot and sweaty. He struggled up to his feet and dragged himself steadily to the bathroom, almost loosing balance as he made his way to the other room.

He turned on the cold shower water, making sure that the liquid wasn't even near warm. He stripped off his clothes that were sticky from the sweat that coated him greasily. Subaru stepped into the shower and was welcomed by the icy water's embrace that his skin shivered with the touch, but he didn't mind at all. He always took cold showers, but this one was colder and made him forget about the heat he felt from the blazing flames and the thick smoke. But the memories were still haunting him and forever would. But what will haunt him the most is that he won't be able to stop loving the Sakurazukamori no matter what.

The icy cold water splashed across his face and spilled all over his pale, weaken body that was sure to break more and more each time he saw that man or even thought about him. His body shook and shuddered and slumped against one of the tiled walls that trapped him in the tiny space of the shower. He slid down and sat with one leg tucked towards his chest and the other outstretched. His arm rested on top of his knee while his other hand was tempted to catch the raining tears.

Subaru raised his head upward, letting the droplets spill onto him in the coldest way, but he didn't mind, he preferred this instead of being consumed in his own flames. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes, figuring out where Seishiro could be right now. It was possible that he was watching him like always, but Subaru was too blind to realize it as first, now he knows.

He brought his hand that was scattered in droplets and turned it over to see the faded inverse pentagrams; forever engraved in his flesh. He traced the marking delicately a few times with his index finger before bringing the finger to his lips. Memories of the first meeting under the sakura tree flashed before him, running through, pausing, fast forwarding, rewinding and then skipping to other memories like a tape recorder. There were memories of the three: Subaru, Hokuto and Seishiro spending time together over tea or discussing about missions. They were smiling, laughing, and having a good time . . . or . . . at least the twins were.

The voices were being surpassed by the shower that constantly fell on the broken men. But Subaru sat motionless as he watched the memories go by in his mind and finally fade away like they were never there, like they ceased to exist. Subaru then stood up and turned off the water, stepping out but wishing he could go back in.

* * *

Subaru walked towards Seishiro's apartment, wondering if the man was there. He knocked steadily at the front door but didn't get a reply. Again he knocked, a bit louder, but still no reply. Why was he doing this? He doubt that Seishiro would open the door and welcome him in with that kind smile. No, the bet was over, there was no need for him to pretend anymore. But Subaru continued to knock, his patience still intact but his sanity constantly shattering.

"Mister?"

Subaru surprisingly stopped the knocking and turned to see a boy around six or seven. He had messy pitch black hair that partly covered over his large amethyst eyes that could easily mistake him for a girl.

"You've been knocking for a while," The boy shyly proclaimed. "I don't think the person you're waiting for is inside."

"Right. . ." Subaru let out a slow sigh as he took another look at the door.

"You really miss that person?" The boy cocked his head to the side, his large eyes blinking in a cute way as he gazed at the man curiously.

Subaru nodded slowly, defeated but didn't say anything else as he stood before the door. The boy walked up to Subaru, taking a glance at the door and then at the man. A sad expression crossed his face and his eyes softened like he could feel Subaru's pain, but no one could ever feel such a great pain as Subaru's.

"I lost my mommy in a large group of people," The boy exclaimed quietly. "so I miss her and want to find her . . . will you help me, please?"

Subaru looked down to see the boy's eyes sparkle with tears; he couldn't say no to such a desperate face. "I'll help you."

The boy gasped in joy and he smiled widely." Thank you!"

Subaru smiled slightly himself but took one last glance at the door before being dragged off by the boy who was overwhelmed with delight. Then the boy stopped when he remembered something with Subaru almost bumping into him.

"Oh, mommy told me it's rude to not introduce myself. My name's Kamui."

Subau was taken a back at first but then hid his slightly shock expression as he wore a gentle smile. "Nice to meet you Kamui, my name's Subaru."

* * *

A/N: Yay, Kamui appears, and I think I'm forgetting facts. . .when Kamui was around 6 or 7, was that when he first met Fuma and Kotori or was he a bit older?


	12. Chapter 12

"Where did you last saw your mother?" Subaru asked Kamui as they walked side by side down a busy street.

"Near a tall building, it was something 60 . . . "

"Sunshine 60." Subaru stated as he easily found the immensely large building that wasn't far from where they were. They had to cross some streets and pass by the huge crowds, Subaru made sure that he wouldn't lose Kamui by holding his hand. It was strange to find Kamui here, well; it wasn't like Subaru didn't want to see him, he was glad to meet him during this time period. He wondered if he had met Fuma yet. . .

"Mommy! Where are you, mommy?" Kamui called out, but his voice only sunk in with the various sounds erupting all at once through the city. Kamui sighed disappointedly, resulting in more tears to form in his eyes when he didn't hear his mom's familiar, sweet voice or even see a glimpse of her. Subaru's grip on Kamui's hand tightened a bit for comfort, he looked down at the boy and presented him with a reassuring smile.

"We'll find your mother, don't worry."

Kamui whipped away his tears and nodded. The two walked around Sunshine 60 and even went inside the building to look, but there was no sign of Kamui's mother. Kamui was getting extremely worried and was soon driven to tears. Before getting awkward glances, Subaru got Kamui into a bathroom and he set him on top of the sink counter. As Kamui was crying, Subaru frantically grabbed some paper towels from the side while trying to calm the boy down but he kept on wailing.

"Kamui, please, we'll find her, we'll find your mother." Subaru kept on saying. He gently patted Kamui's back and used a paper towel to whip away his tears while with another he helped the boy blow his nose.

"Crying won't get you anywhere; it'll just make you more upset." Subaru told the boy as he continued to pat his back in a comforting manner. "You have to be strong, Kamui. . .can you do that?"

Kamui stared at Subaru questionably as he finally quieted down. He slowly nodded and a small smile crept up his face, understanding the man's words.

"Good, how about we get some ice cream before continuing the search?"

Kamui's smiled brightened and he jumped down from the counter, gleefully accepting the offer.

* * *

Subaru handed Kamui a chocolate mint ice cream while he was quietly licking a vanilla flavored, icy treat. They both sat on stools inside of a cute, humble ice cream shop. The stools were tall so Subaru had to help Kamui get on it and would have to have some help getting down. The boy was enjoying his ice cream very much as he licked the treat all around rather quickly. Subaru was much slower pace and was lost in his own thoughts before getting a small hand being waved at his face.

"You okay, Onee-chan?" Kamui asked innocently.

"Ye-wait, did you call me, Onee-chan?"

"Yes, that's what you are." Kamui continued to lick his icecream as he stared up at Subaru.

"Uh, I'm a boy, Kamui, not a girl."

Kamui stopped mid-lick and some ice cream dripped off of his cone.

". . .Can I still call you Onee-chan?" The boy now asked, he was embaressed but it wasn't his fault in not knowing that Subaru was a guy. He does have large emerald eyes that could easily mistake him for a girl.

Subaru shrugged, he really didn't care, and after being mistaken for a girl for most of his life, he should be used to this by now. Subaru just licked his ice cream, realizing that he had alot of the icy treat left that was settled on the waffle flavored cone. He didn't really like vanila, he prefered the cherry type since Seishiro liked the same type. Maybe he should've ordered cherry, but then again he really shouldn't, besides, the shop was all out of cherry flavored icecream. He took another bite out of the treat and frowned, he wished that they weren't out of cherry.

"Onee-chan, Kamui tugged on Subaru's sleeve and got him back into reality. "I'm done my ice cream."

"Good, but you have a bit of icecream on your nose."

"Eh?" Kamui tried to look at his nose by going cross eyed but it only hurt his eyes. He tried to lick the icecream off of his nose by tilting his head back and stretching out his tongue out as far out as he could. He soon gave up and just rubbed the icecream off with the back of his hand.

"Alright, lets continue searching." Subaru got off of his stool but Kamui kept a hold of his sleeve.

"Don't you want to finish your icecream?" Kamui asked, taking note of the unfinished treat in Subaru's hand.

"Not really." Subaru tossed the treat into a nearby trashcan.

Kamui pouted, knowing that it was a waste, espeically since it was icecresm. Who would ever throw away a delicious frozen treat? Kamui jumped off of his stool and gazed sadly into the trashcran to see the icecream's terrible fate at the very bottom.

"Kamui?"

Kamui's head jerked up as he heard his name being called, but it wasn't Subaru who called his name. He saw his mother standing in front of him with a relieved facial expression as she spread her arms and hugged her son.

"Mommy!" Kamui cried out cheerfully with tears flying out of his eyes. Subaru watched this with a ghost of a smile and started to take his leave. He really shouldn't get involve with Kamui right now, especially at this time when he's only a child. Right now he needs to find Seishiro before anyone else he cares for gets hurt. Subaru opened the glass door that lead to the outside but his hand was grabbed and was tugged away from his almost silent escape.

"Mommy! Onee-chan helped me find you and also gave me icecream!" Kamui exclaimed as he was able to pull Subaru over to the boy's mother. Kamui let go and Subaru respectfully bowed his head and in return, Kamui's mother-Toru Shiro- did the same.

"Thank you, um-"

"Sumeragi Subaru."

"Sumeragi!" Toru gasped and that brought attention to most of the people in the shop. Subaru's face flushed pink in embaressment while Kamui was just looking confused but yet sweet and innocent like always.

Toru noticed the awkward stares so she dragged her confused son and a sheepish Subaru out of the icecream shop and into a park. Kamui found a tree to play on while Subaru and Toru both sat on a bench that wasn't too far from where Kamui was. Even so, Subaru kept an eye on the boy as he was enjoying his time climbing to the top. Subaru wondered if he should get him down but Kamui looked like he could handle himself despite his fragil age. After all, he is the the one to decide what should happen to the world in several years, he can decide on what he wants to play on.

"It's truly an honor to meet you. Sumeragi Subaru." Toru said, getting Subaru's attention.

"I'm glad that we finally found you, well, you found Kamui first." Subaru said and he stood up from the bench. "But as much as much I'd like to stay and talk, I really must be going-"

"Kamui seems to take a likeing on you, it would be a shame if you left so suddenly." Toru proclaimed and the Sumeragi had no choice but to sit back down. He did care about Kamui, but it wasn't right that he was to meet him already, but maybe he could help him. . .

"It would." Subaru agreed, he leaned back on the bench and glanced back at the young boy who was laughing as he ran around the base of the tree, waving his arms around and kicking his legs at the air. He was just a child that shouldn't have such a cruel destiny, he was oblivious to this and was just enjoying his life like any other normal kid. But he'll never really get to be normal, and Subaru was never normal either. They both have a role in 1999 and that'll prove how inhumane they really are. Subaru shouldn't just leave and see him again during that fateful year, it wouldn't be right and when Subaru did meet Kamui before, he was already broken. Maybe Subaru could help him and make him whole instead of empty, afterall, they were like sisters.

"I know this will sound a little awkward. . ." Subaru said as he turned back to Toru. "But if anything were to happen to you, would you mind if I was to be Kamui's guardian?"

* * *

A/N: I was a bit lazy while writing this chapter and I know it was a boring chapter as well, I just been feeling lazy latly since school's over for me. And I got a bit confused on how the wording of mother works in Japanese. Sometimes I hear it as Kaa-san and other times I hear it as Okaa-san, so which is it? I didn't include any of those in this chap coz I was confused~


	13. Chapter 13

"His guardian?" Toru asked. "It is kind of awkward for the 13th head of the Sumeragi to be asking that."

"Yes, but I know what's going to happen in 1999. I did a fortune reading and it showed me visions on what Kamui's fate will be. He will either have the choice of becoming a Dragon of Heaven or a Dragon of Earth, and in the future he will be a Dragon of Heaven, but somehow he might become a Dragon of Earth. So I need to prevent him from choosing the wrong path."

"Will you be taking part of 1999 as well?" Toru asked.

"Yes, my destiny is to be one of the Dragons of Heaven, which is one of the reasons why I have to protect Kamui. If I don't protect him as well as the people I love, there's no point of me being here." Subaru stated, clutching his hands together that were rested on his lap.

Toru stared at the Sumeragi admirably, she has heard of the powerful clan and now that she was talking to the head, she could really tell how great they were. Afterall, they do protect Japan no matter the case, and 1999 was going to be the hardest challenge.

Toru nodded. "Protecting the ones you love the most. . . that's probaly the greatest thing you can ever do. . .even if you're dying for them in the process."

"I guess. . ." Subaru looked back at Kamui who was attempting to climb to the very top of the tree. He was the only seven year old who dared to even climb a tree while the other kids were playing on the small playground nearby.

"What else did you saw in those visions of 1999?" Toru now asked, watching Kamui as well. The boy almost tripped but clinged to the trunk before continuing his climb. He stopped midway to wave to both his mother and Subaru, cheering to them on how he's almost at the top.

"Kamui becomes stronger physically. . .but can never mentally. . .because of the death of a friend. . .and the betrayal of another. . . Toru-san, I belive it wouldn't be a good idea if you met the Monou family."

Toru looked shocked. "What? But why! I've been friends with the family and I hoped that Kamui-"

"No, don't get them involved. Kotori Monou will die by Fuma Monou's hands and he'll become the leader of the Dragons of Earth.

"Th-that's impossible-"

"I saw it in the visions. You have to belive me when I tell you this, you can't get the Monou family involved. Kamui has enough on his shoulders. . . please, just let him enjoy his childhood like any other child before stressing him about his fate. Now, if you excuse me, I have a job to go to." Subaru got up from the bench and then pulled out a small notepade. "I'll give you my adress and phone number if you have anymore questions, and if you want I can make another fortune reading to see what else will happen in 1999." he wrote the information down rather quickly and handed the piece of paper to Toru who nodded.

"I'm sorry that this was totally abrupt for you, especially since I asked to be Kamui's guardian." Subaru said.

Toru folded the paper and placed it inside her purse. She shook her head and focused back on Kamui who wasn't able to make it to the top since he kept on slipping so he tried again. " I belive that it would be best for him to have you-a Sumeragi-to be his guardian. You already seem to know alot about Kamui, even though you just met him. "

"Yeah. . .well, I have to go. And thank you for letting me be Kamui's guardian." Subaru bowed his head and left.

* * *

When Subaru finished with his job and returned back to his small and lonely apartement, he went up to the answering machine to see if he got any messeges. He got a few in the past several hours so he decided to listen to them, but doubt that he'll call back. He clicked on the button and waited for the line of messeges to sprung up and bring in some life in the dark room.

_"Subaru-san_" It was his grandmother, the messege was made yesturday. _"You don't need to answer back but I just wanted to tell you that Hokuto-chan returned to the Sumeragi estate safely. Although it would be nice if you came back as well, but I know you'll refuse too. Just please be careful and not do anything reckless." _

Next messege (made the other day as well)

_"Subaru_!" It was Hokuto_. "I know, I know, I shouldn't call, but I just wanted to say hi! I'm back at the estate-boring as hell-and I miss you! Ah, better go before Obaa-chan yells at me." _

Next messge. 3 hours ago.

_"Hello, Subaru-kun." _

Subaru felt a chill run up his spine as the man's voice echoed in the room as well as his mind.

_"Couldn't help but notice, back in the park, __that you were talking about being a young boy's guardian, which would mean-specifically-protecting him. Now that sounds a bit awkward, Subaru-kun. Why would you risk your life for some one as insignificent as him? It sounds like you're cheating on me or something." _

Next messege. 2 hours ago.

_"Hello again, Subaru-kun, I noticed that you didn't answer my call. Well of course you didn't, you're at work. You said it yourself that you had a job to do." _

Next messge. 1 hour ago.

_"That job's taking a while, isn't it? Well I know you'll do fine, you always do fine, but some times you need saving when you don't need to be save. Will you be doing the same for that boy? I hope you don't, you don't know if you'll be able to save him or not." _

Next messege. 30 minutes ago.

_"Now you're walking back to your apartement, you must be tired since this was a long day for you. You didn't sleep well last night, you were in the shower-that was cold water, wasn't it? You were knocking on my door for a long time-did you miss me already? You looked for that boy's mother and then you had a job to do that lasted you a few hours. Busy day, Subaru-kun, but I'm sure you could handle it." _

Next messege. 20 minutes ago.

_"It's not a good idea to walk alone, Subaru-kun. There could be some strange people stalking you." _

Next messege. 10 minutes ago.

"_I can't wait to chat, Subaru-kun. I especially want to know what's going on with you and that boy. Even though the bet's over, that doesn't mean I'm through with you." _

The messeges ended, but the the phone rang right after.

* * *

A/N: Thanks goes to those who explained to me the diffrence between Okaa-san and Kaa-san, I feel pretty stupid for not knowing that ^^ Now I have ran out of music to listen to write this fic, so I've been listening to epic music~


	14. Chapter 14

Subaru waited patiently for the last ring, but the ringing was infinite. The sound glided around the almost dark room; the midday sun being the only light as it painted one of the walls ivory. But even that was being hidden in darkness as a shadow loomed in and grew as the phone continued to ring.

Subaru picked up the phone and-taking in a deep breath and closing his eyes-he answered.

"Hello?"

"Oh, now you answer! Geez, you're so slow, Subaru!" Burst out Hokuto's shrill voice that threw Subaru off and almost made him trip over his feet.

"Hokuto-chan! You're not suppose to call me!" Subaru exclaimed, irritated but relieved to hear his sister's energetic voice.

"I know, but it's so boring here! I have to stay in Kyoto _forever!_ That means I can't go back to Tokyo and shop and worse is that I won't be able to see you. Can we please stay in touch? I hate it how you're all alone over there, it's going to be worse than the time you had to go to Kyoto for training."

"Just be thankful you're still alive. . . I'll be more alone if you weren't." Subaru stated as he sat down on a chair right next to the window. Half of his face was in shadows while the other half was illuminated by the light and made his right eye look more amber than emerald.

"Subaru. . ." Hokuto spoke after a minute, her voice now solemn. " I heard that you're from the future. . .and I was dead then. . . how were you able to handle that?"

"Where did you-"

"Answer my question, Subaru." Hokuto demanded.

Subaru sighed slowly and remembered watching his sister's death and unable to do anything. "I didn't handle it well-"

"Was it because it was Sei-chan who killed me? You love him, don't you?"

"Yes. . .but I love you as well, Hokuto-chan-"

"But Sei-chan is more important to you than me. So what are you going to do when you confront him?"

There was a pause till another voice piped in.

"That's a good question, Hokuto-chan. What is Subaru-kun going to do when he confronts me?"

Subaru's eyes widen and turned to see Seishiro sitting just across from him-completly in shadows-with another telephone in hand, having it pressed against his ear. He was silently listening to the conversation the whole time while just siting there for who knows how long.

"So you're from the future, Subaru-kun. That makes it two of us."

Subaru jerked up from his chair and almost dropped the phone which his hand was struggling to keep hold since he was trembiling in fear in not for his sake but for his sister's.

"What do you mean by that?" Subaru asked.

Seishrio pressed the phone closer to his ear and whispered to both twin's slowly, "I'm from the future as well."

The younger twin stared at Seishiro shockingly in disbelief as he shook his head. "Tha-that's not right. How could you be from the future when I-"

"When you _killed_ me?" Seishiro inquired as he kept talking into the phone but had his eyes fixed on Subaru. He was having both twins listen to all of this for his enjoyment. "You did kill me but yet you didn't. You see, in the future when I killed Hokuto-chan, she put a curse on me that-if I try to kill you-it'll back fire on me. So soon after I killed her, I went to the Dimensional Witch and asked her to let me go to the past 'cause I wanted to have more fun with you since we would be busy with the end of the world. So when I 'died' my soul left my body and came back to the past, entering the body of my twenty five year old self and playing this cherade all over again. But I'm so glad that you decided to come back, I was wondering how you knew the bet so quickly,but unfortunatly we both can't go back to the future, we have to wait for 1999 to come all over again. You see, when you go back in time and stick with that time without traveling to where you curently were, your soul gets seperated from your body and it enters the body of your past self. These bodies that we're in are merely just vessels, our souls are the ones that hold the power that we're fated to have in 1999, but you're special, Subaru-kun. You don't just hold the powers that you have for the Sumeragi, but for the Sakurazukamori as well."

"What do you mean by that, Sei-chan?" Hokuto asked in a mixture of puzzlement and concern.

"Oh!" The older man smiled widely, acting like a little kid on Christmas day. "Didn't you know, Hokuto-chan? Subaru-kun became the new Sakurazukamori! But since I'm still alive, that means there's two Sakurazukamori's here." Seishiro kept focused on Subaru who was scared to know what Hokuto's reaction was to this. On the other line she was quiet, just still and quiet till she finally spoke cautiously, fear gripping at her voice.

"Is that true, Subaru?"

And Subaru didn't hesitated to answer. "I recieved Seishiro-san's eye after he 'died'. The eye held powers of the Sakurazukamori so I became the new heir." Subaru closed his eyes and touched his right one. It didn't shine amber, only emerald since this was only the vessel that could use Onmyoji for good, while his soul does the opposite. He hoped that he wasn't able to have the inheritage of the Sakurazukamori, but unfortunatly he does.

"I bet you're shocked, Hokuto-chan." Seishiro proclaimed as he leaned back on the chair and-to his delight-kept watch on Subaru's feared expression. "Your voice is shaking and you're barely saying anything. Now your brother will become an assassin. . .well, that's unless I kill him, than he wouldn't, but if he kills me, he would fully become the Sakurazukamori. So what do you think of all this, Hokuto-chan?"

There was again a long trail of dead silencer from the older twin. She just stood where she was and grasped sweaty hands at the phone that was slipping from her fingers. Subaru was about to speak but Hokuto angrily hanged up the phone and tossed it against the wall, very close to breaking it in the process. Hokuto-with tear filled eyes-packed her belongings back in her suitcases and stormed out of the estate in trepidation snd frustration.

Seishiro smiled and hanged up the phone. "I bet she took that very well."

* * *

A/N: So I was reading oneof your reviews from the last chapter when suddenly the phone started ringing and I jumped out of my seat in fright! Oh, dear, well, looks like we have some more twists~ Sei-chan is from the future! And yes, the concept of time travel is twisted, confusing and complicated to understand, especially in the CLAMP universe. And sorry that this chap was fast, it's very late and I'm falling asleep.


	15. Chapter 15

"I don't know if I should be glad or not about you being from the future as well." Seishiro pulled out a cigarette from his pocket and lit it. "Well, it wouldn't matter since I don't hold any emotions." The man stuck the cigarette in his mouth as Subaru hung up the phone. "Wonder what Hokuto-chan thinks of you know, that you're just like me."

"I am not like you." Subaru said monotonously.

"Funny, you said that we were the same the other day. . . having same feelings and such." Seishiro let out a long drag of smoke that glided towards Subaru's direction but it disappeared. Subaru slapped his hands on the arm rests and shot up from his seat

"I meant that I am not the Sakurazukamori!"The younger man retorted, eyes blazing and showing the amber in his right one but it changed back to emerald. Seishiro's smile grew and he drew out another gray smoke that acted like a serpant meandering around the room.

"Oh, that reminds me. . . the price that I had to offer in order to go back here. . ." Seishiro mindlessly continued talking-not bothering to argue back-but talked in a laid back tone and smoked freely like he owned the apartement "I'm short on my magic, I'm not allowed to kill because you're not allowed to kill people from the past even if you killed them before-"

"But you killed Yuya's okaa-"

"I pleasantly stabbed her with the knife she used to hurt you. I mean that I can't kill with my powers. Now, I'm at a limit with my powers, If I go over the limit, my powers would rebound and kill me. There's no way to avoid it, but I have to kill in order to do my duty as the Sakurazukamori. But luckily, you came back at the right time. So, if you really care about me, you would do my duty as the Sakurazukamori as well as becoming a Dragon of Earth. . .or should I say, the leader of the Dragons of Earth."

Seishiro plucked out the cigarette from between his curved lips and dropped it to the hard wood floor. He stomped and smothered the cigarette to bits as the last puff of smoke climbed it's way upward before dying.

"It was pretty selfish of you to drive little Kamui-kun away from ever meeting his friends. Now that he'll never meet them, they-especially Fuma-will not be involved in the end of the world. So that means, there's an empty spot, and considering that I'm on a strict limit, I can't become the leader. So I'll just be in the shadows as I watch you, doing my job and playing with the earth."

The older man got up from his seat-smothering the cigarette once more as if wanting to do the same to someone-and headed towards the door. As he opened the door ajar, a running hand pounded the door shut. Subaru stood in front of Seishiro who only offered his carefree smile.

"So you're saying. . ." Subaru finally spoke, ignoring that lying smile and facing those laughing eyes. "is that you're at a limit with your magic? That you can't kill anyone? So you couldn't kill me, so why didn't you kill me back then!"

"Back when?" Seishiro pulled out his sunglasses and brought them up to the bridge of his nose.

"When you. . . betrayed me." Subaru's head dropped just like his anger that was difficult to hold. He clutched his fists, having them hang at each side and then releasing his fingers to reach towards his right eye.

"Do you really want me to become the next Sakurazukamori?"

"Unless there's someone else to take the job." Seishiro took a step forward to claim the door knob. "But I highly doubt it, considering that there is supposed to be only _one_ Sakurazukamori."

And Seishiro left the apartement, making that the last meeting of those two till 1999. During the following nine years, Subaru took care of Kamui even though that they were going to be in opposite sides. Subaru wondered who was going to take his place as the new Dragon of Heaven, but he was more concerned on Seishiro's whereabouts. Considering that he only had a limit amount of magic, he couldn't do much. But he was still going to be part of the end of the world. And Seishiro isn't the only one who's missing, Subaru tried to call the Sumeragi estate to reach Hokuto but she was never around. His Obaa-san said that Hokuto went missing and so the family have been searching for her ever since. Subaru was afraid that she might be dead, but she couldn't, Seishiro couldn't kill anyone with his magic. . .unless he lied.

Subaru would've searched himself, but he had to take care of Kamui since his Okaa-san was away alot. But it also gave him a sick feeling since he would betrayed him. . . again. But when the time comes, he'll have lots of explaining to do since Kamui is too young to know. But Kamui isn't the only one he'll be betraying, he'll be betraying everyone.

* * *

A/N: Ah, this chap was shorter than I wanted it to be~ well, this is more like the closure to 1991 since the following chapters is 1999! Yay~ So, new twists and new questions now, I would just loooove to hear predicitions on what you guys will think will happen in the new future and what's gonna happen to the charecters, especially Subaru~


	16. Chapter 16

15 year old Kamui stood just outside of the phone booth where Subaru was making a phone call. The two were on their way to CLAMP campus when Subaru remembered that he needed to check up on something with his Obaa-san. Kamui looked over his shoulder to see the young man pressing the buttons and holding the phone to his ear. He couldn't listen since there was a thick, glass door seperating the two, but he knew it was private so sat on a nearby bench and waited.

"So how's the search?" Subaru asked.

_"We still can't find her, Subaru-san."_ his Obaa-san concluded, her voice solemn. _"It's been nine years and we haven't found a single trace of her. . ."_

"Please keep looking." Subaru exclaimed.

_"Subaru-san. . . I know that you want to find Hokuto-chan, but it's probaly too late-"_

"Do you want me to belive my sister's dead? 'Cause she can't be dead. Hokuto-chan is still alive but she's hiding somewhere. . .hiding from me, probaly. . ."

_"What do you mean-"_

"I have to go, Obaa-san, please take care." Subaru hung up the phone before hearing his Obaa-san's response on the other line. He stepped out of the phone booth and saw Kamui waiting for him on the bench.

"You didn't have to wait." The man exclaimed but Kamui disagreed and shook his head timidly.

"It wouldn't be right if I left without you knowing." Kamui said, looking at Subaru with honest ameythst eyes. He smiled but Subaru just sighed and turned to walk away. Kamui figured that his talk with his Obaa-san didn't go well, but Subaru hasn't been in a good mood latly anyways. Kamui wanted to ask what was on the man's mind but he figured it was private.

The two walked silently through a park, Subaru a few feet ahead but then he stopped in his tracks and Kamui almost bumped into him. There was a lake that the sun's ray's were sprinkiling a bright, golden glow upon on Walking elegently on the swallow side of the glittering lake was an average size blue heorn. But what made Subaru stop was it's familar presence and it's silver gems crowning its head. The heron was a shikigami.

The shikigami stood calm and still above the glowing water. It stared at Subaru and Kamui with no signs of fear in its eyes that made all of the gems look like eyes themselves. Its long neck twirled to the side to avoid the stares and focused more on the raising sun behind it.

Kamui-who has never encountered a shikigami before -was in awe as he stared wordlessly at the creature. The shikigami faced them again and spread it's wings, showing off hundreds of feathers that shimmered like saphires with the sun's light. It then gave off a beautiful yet melachony cry before vanishing; leaving behind some of its feathers which floated smoothly into the water.

Subaru had never witnessed that kind of shikigami before and wondered where it came from and who it's owner was. It was probaly from another onmyoji from a diffrent clan, but a shikigami is always with its owner, unless its searching for something.

Subaru went towards the spot where the heron was and picked up one of the feathers to exaimined it He sensed strong magic from it but couldn't seem to reconize it. He collected the feathers in his hands and placed them in his coat pocket, he'll observe them later.

* * *

"Class, we have a new student today." Kamui's sensei exclaimed as he stood at the door, his hand on the handle and ready to reveal the new student. He opened the door a girl with dirty blond hair stepped into the room and she immediatly bowed to everyone. Kamui glanced up from his book curiously to see who the new student was, and in an instant there was a small blush on his cheeks.

"Hello, my name is Monou Kotori, it's a pleasure to meet you all." she smiled gracefully and was soon told where to sit. And her seat just happened to be next to Kamui's. Kamui turned away but he felt a small tap on his shoulder.

"Hello, what's your name?" Kotori whispered since their sensei was begining a lecture.

"Kamui. . ." Kamui answered as he focused more on the lecture, he wasn't the best at introductions anyways.

"That's such a cute name. Can I call you Kamui-chan?" Kotori giggled but covered her mouth to keep quiet. The sensei glanced up for a sec to see what the talking was about but moved on. Kamui hid his face in the book that he was previously reading to past the time but he had another distraction.

"Can we have this chat later, please?" Kamui asked.

"Of course!" Kotori accidently called out and placed Kamui into a more embaressing situation. He couldn't wait till the day was over.

* * *

"Kamui-chan!" Kotori called out to Kamui after class. The boy didn't know if he should run or just stay and see what the new student has to say. It better be quick since he had to go to his next class.

"Hey." Kamui gestured his hand up but left it hanging by his side.

"Sorry for what happened in class." Kotori said, standing beside Kamui as they walked down the busy hallway. "I just get so excited when I meet a new friend!"

"Friens?"

"Yup! You're my friend, Kamui-chan!"

Kamui blushed again and turned away. "Uh, I have to get to class."

"Oh! Hey, Onii-chan!" Kotori called out loudly through the noisy crowd. Kamui looked to see who Kotori was calling out too and saw a student-perhaps a few years older than him-with spiky black hair and tea colored eyes.

"Kamui-chan, I'd like you to meet my Onii-chan!" Kotori pushed Kamui towards the older boy and almost bumped into him. "Kamui-chan, this is Fuma! Fuma, this is Kamui-chan!"

* * *

A/N: Dun, dun, duuuun~ so Kamui has met both Fuma and Kotori now! Ohohohoho~ Sorry, Kamui, but there's no escaping your fate! Oh, I just love to torture my fav. charecters, ohohoho~


	17. Chapter 17

The courtyard in CLAMP campus was filled with scattering sakura trees. Subaru was leaning against one of them and examining the shikigami's feather. He sensed powerful magic emitting from it, but that's all he could really get from it. It was like the owner was hiding himself from being noticed. . .

"Kamui-chan! Let's sit here to eat!" Kotori's voice squealed as she dragged an embarresed Kamui over to a bench. Fuma was walking not far behind and joining them while carrying their bento boxes.

Subaru turned from behind the tree to see the trio chatting away and laughing. He frowned but just stayed there and watched.

"Kamui-chan, you didn't pack much!" Kotori gasped as she looked into his bento. "Here, you can have some of my riceballs!" Kotori stuffed a riceball into Kamui's mouth and the boy gulped it down heavily.

Kamui made sure he ate all his food before Kotori tried to choke him again.

"So, when did you guys move in?" Kamui asked.

"Yesterday," Fuma answered. "Well we moved a lot but we're staying at our family's shrine officially."

"I see. . .well, it's nice here at CLAMP campus, I'm sure we'll have a good school year together." Kamui said timidly which brought smiles to both of the Monou siblings.

The branches that were hovering around Subaru's head swayed about despite no passing wind. The petals broke off of the branches and circled downward in a waltz as a familiar voice crept in.

"_Looks like Kamui couldn't escape his fate."_

Subaru shut his eyes and leaned back on the tree's trunk while placing the feather back in his pocket.

"I thought you said you can't use your powers."

"_This is the first I used it since the last time we've met. And that was nine years ago." _The branches caressed Subaru's cheeks like hands in an uncomfortable manner but the younger man didn't recoil.

"What have you been doing in the past nine years?" Subaru stared up at the tree, wondering if Seishiro was hiding within it or somewhere else, either way, he'll always be watching him.

"_I would ask you the same question since you haven't done any murdering. But it looks like you won't need to do my job anyways. It has been taken care of actually." _

"What do you mean?" Subaru took hold of one of the branches but kept a light grip. His eyes furrowed and a deep frown crossed his lips as he waited tolerantly for an answer. But then something cut Seishiro off as the branch that Subaru was holding was ripped off and shattered to swarms of petals and then to nothingness.

The heron shikigami appeared out of a gust of swirling silver colored winds. It's eyes blazed in a hidden seething rage and cried out a piercing screech, sending in a wave of magic at the tree.

Seishiro's hawk shikigami flew straight out of the tree and easily deflected the attack with a barrier before clashing with the mysterious creature.

Once the hawk appeared, the area around them faded into darkness, creating an illusion that Subaru and the heron were trapped in. The sakura gree grew to an immense height and its branches joined in the battle as they swayed violently at the air, preventing the heron from going near it. But the branches avoided from hitting Subaru who couldn't do anything since he was within the tree's grasps.

"_That shikigami is almost as beautiful as yours. . . I haven't seen it in a long time, why don't you bring it out so our pets can all play." _

But then the heron gave off a painful cry as the hawk bit down on its long neck and scrapped out a large piece of flesh. The hawk would've tore the heron's neck off if Subaru hadn't broke his way out of the tree's hold and tossed out his doves at the hawk.

The heron weakly flapped its wings backwards before disappearing in the swirling winds, leaving some of its feathers behind. After the heron disappeared, the illusion vanished as well.

"_It would've been nice if you didn't interfere, Subaru-kun. That shikigami seems to becoming a problem_ _for both you and I. But your main problem is figuring out how you're going to confess to dear Kamui that you're going to become a Dragon of Earth. Wonder if Fuma will be one too, afterall, I wouldn't necessarily be a part of the end of the world because of my limit. But if Fuma does become a Dragon of Earth than Kamui will be facing two betrayals now. It looks like you made things worse, Subaru-kun." _

* * *

A/N: Just building up the suspense. . . updating will probaly be shorter since I'm starting school tomorrow. Sorry that this chap was short, school is coming up like I said before so I'm getting ready for it so my writing time has shortened so this chap is shorter than I intended it too.


	18. Chapter 18

"So that was a shikigami?" Kamui asked, recognizing the feathers that Subaru was currently examining in deep thought. The two were walking back to Kamui's house which wasn't that far from the campus. They were getting close to a small playground where they heard the cries of children laughing in the distance.

"Yes, it's a spirit that's used as a companion for Onmyoji's like me. I barely use mine since I usually use it for guidance, so I need to figure out where that shikigami came from since it appeared again." Subaru exclaimed.

"Again? When?"

"During lunch, I just saw it flying around the courtyard but it disappeared quickly."

"Oh right, I think I did felt a strange presence around but wasn't sure what it was. . ." Kamui said, plucking out one of the feather's from Subaru's grasps to look as well. The blue feather that Kamui held looked like tiny shards of glass up close. "Do you think you know who the shikigami belongs too."

"Not yet, I'm going to find out tonight though. I have to conduct a small ceremony in my apartment since I'll have to have some privacy in order to concentrate. Since I haven't done this in a while, it might take longer, and plus I have another job to do so I probably won't see you till tomorrow."

"That's fine." Kamui stopped at where one road led to Subaru's apartment while Kamui's house was on the other side. They were standing in front of the playground where the voices of merrily children were loud and clear.

Subaru left after a brief goodbye, leaving Kamui who was checking to see if he didn't leave any of his books back at the campus. When Kamui looked back, Subaru was gone. The teen was about to head home till he felt a small ball bounce at his feet, followed by the cries of kids asking for the ball back.

Kamui picked up the ball and tossed it back to the group of kids who gave their quick thanks before returning to their game. Kamui smiled slightly as he watched the kids play with the ball, but something else caught his eye. Behind the playful kids were rows of benches where parents were seated on, but one bench was claimed by a young woman with a bowl cut style hairdo and bright emerald eyes that were concentrated on a magazine. She was dressed n a leather jacket covering up a short, black dress with matching high heel boots. Fancy sunglasses were perched on top of her head but she placed them on her lap and turned to the next page of the magazine.

Kamui was pretty sure he was staring at a girl version of Subaru. . . or perhaps this was his sister? Subaru did say that he has a sister, but didn't mention her much, only that they're twins and that their personalities were difference.

Kamui anxiously went up to the women, what if this wasn't Subaru's sister? He would feel so embarrassed if it wasn't. . .

"Um, excuse me." The women put down the magazine and noticed the stuttering teen in front of him.

"Are you. . . Hokuto Sumeragi by any chance?"

The women smiled and nodded. "Indeed I am, and why does a cute teen like you want to know?"

"Well, I've known your brother, Subaru, for a long time and he talks about you. . . well not a lot, but he tells me that you've been missing for—"

"Eight years." Hokuto finished. She then gestured her hand for Kamui to sit down and he did so. "I know what you want to ask me, but it's pretty complicated. . . I'll just tell you that I've done things that I'm not at all proud of, but that's only to do the right things for those I care about."

"But where have you been all this time?" Kamui asked. "If whatever you have been doing . . . that bad for you to run away from your family . . . why?"

Hokuto settled the magazine beside her and looked at the teen sternly, but then notice the feather that Kamui was still holding. Her eyes widened slightly and Kamui caught her gaze.

"Hokuto-san. . ." Kamui clearly showed the feather in front of the young woman. "Do you own a shikigami?"

Hokuto took the feather to examine it for herself. "Subaru told you about shikigamis?"

"Yes and other things about his job as an Onmyoji. Are you one too, Hokuto-san?"

"No, I just have a few powers. . ." Hokuto retrieved her purse from behind her; it was leather as well as having silver buckles strapped to the sides of it. Hokuto clipped open one of the buckles and got out a lip gloss.

"I don't use this one much, but I can create a temporary barrier for a few seconds, it's pretty useful while running from creeps, but I usually just kick them between the legs which is more effective."

Kamui safely scooted a few feet from the woman who got out another accessory which was a small mirror.

"This one doesn't have any magical powers, but I can blind people if I have the glass facing the sun and having the light backfire on them." Hokuto chuckled a bit and put that accessory away as well. "I'm not gifted with what Subaru has; I'm one of the only ones in our clan who can't use it."

"Don't you have some sort of training?" Kamui asked.

"I did, years and years ago . . . but the power just comes in genetically, just like you, Kamui."

Kamui froze, how did she know his name? He didn't remember introducing himself. Hokuto laughed and ruffled the teen's hair, making it slightly messier than it previously was.

"You remind me so much of Subaru when he was younger, always freaking out and being shy."

"Subaru was like that?" Kamui's eyes widened in disbelief, he couldn't imagine the man to be like that.

"Yup, I have a picture!" Hokuto excitedly got out a picture from her wallet. The picture consisted of both twins in their younger teen years. Hokuto was wearing a puffy, pink dress with fairy wings strapped on her back. She had a fancy tiara branched on her head with matching jewelry adorning her ears, neck and arms. Subaru on the other hand was wearing a flashy, pink tuxedo with an oversized hot pink bow clipped just at the collar. He wore a matching hat with a ribbon tied around, ending to make another bow. The twins were both smiling widely and Kamui was totally surprised by how Subaru looked and acted in this one picture.

"Was this Halloween?" The teen asked.

"No, I always dress myself and Subaru like this every day!"

"Every day?"

"Yup!"

"Did Subaru like it?"

"I'm pretty sure he did!"

Kamui was pretty sure that Hokuto impelled Subaru to wear those outfits, but he didn't say anything else about that.

"But, Hokuto-san, how do you know my name?"

"Someone told me." Hokuto smiled. "You know who dreamseers are, right?"

"Yes, they have visions of the future when they dream." Kamui nodded.

"Correct, every night I visit the dreamseer, Kakyo, and last night he told me I'll be meeting a boy named Kamui today at the playground. Usually his visions are bad since he's always talking about 1999 and how the world's going to end and stuff like that. Don't worry about it 'cause you're the savior and—"

"Wait, what?"

Hokuto blinked. "Subaru didn't tell you?"

"No . . . ?"

Hokuto then burst out laughing and caught several people's attention but she ignored them. "Woah, Subaru tells you about his job but not your duty? Okay, long, complicated story short, and don't blame me for sounding weird, Kakyo told me this. Okay, well you're supposed to choose whether the earth should be destroyed or not. There's two groups called the Dragons of Heaven and the Dragons of Earth—which sound like some video game, by the way—and they battle each other and you're suppose to choose which group you're on and that determines what happens to the earth."

Kamui looked completely confused now. Hokuto sighed and patted his head. "I think you need to talk to either Kakyo or Subaru about this, maybe Kakyo."

"Why hasn't Kakyo come to me to talk?"

"Well Kakyo likes to stay in one place which is the beach so he doesn't really come to you, you have to find him. When you're sleeping, think about the beach—"

"I've never been to the beach."

Hokuto's mouth dropped and thought on how to say this. "Well, the beach has lots of sand and a huge body of water that moves around by the wind and there are these annoying birds that sound like they're high. That's really the only place you'll be able to talk to Kakyo since his physical body is in a comatose state."

"Why's he like that? "

"How about you ask him that yourself when you see him?" Hokuto proclaimed. "Now how about you get home—"

"Wait, first I need to get Subaru here!" Kamui exclaimed, getting off of the bench. "He would definitely want to see you!"

"Kamui—"

"Please stay here, I'll be right back!" Kamui dashed off before Hokuto could respond.

* * *

Kamui knocked on Subaru's door several times before the older man answered. Subaru was dressed in his shikifuku and the inside of the apartment was dark, saved for a few candles and ldim ighting from the sun.

"Yes, Kamui? I'm about to start a ceremony."

"I know, I'm really, really sorry. But I was in the playground and I met up with your sister, Hokuto!"

"Hokuto? Are you sure?"

"Yes! She had your hairstyle, eyes and had an interesting fashion taste." Kamui exclaimed.

"That's definitely Hokuto then. . ."

"C'mon!" Kamui pulled Subaru out of the apartment and they headed back to the playground. Subaru at least wanted to change first.

When the two got to the playground, most of the parents and their kids were gone so over most the playground was being played on by the wind. The three empty swings from the swing set were swaying back and forth in opposite directions with their chains twirling and clinging against the other. One little girl hurriedly climbed up a slide with her mother wanting at the bottom. The girl squealed when she slid down, but once she got down, her mother picked her up and they left the area.

The remaining children were the ones playing with the ball. One tossed it up high in the air while the others tried to catch it. Another kid caught the ball and kicked it across the dirt with the kids chasing after it. The ball rolled to the bench that Kamui was sitting on, but Hokuto wasn't seated on it either.

The only thing on the lone, wooden bench was that one feather from the heron shikigami.

* * *

A/N: Finally! A longer chapter than the previous ones! But again, I leave you all off with a cliffhanger! I'm so sorry for the long update, school is a meanie~ And once again, I'm building up suspece, looks like Hokuto's hiding something and doesn't want anyone to find out, oh I'm so mean to leave you all with cliffhangers and questions, ohohohoho~


	19. Chapter 19

Kamui stared at the bench in disbelief and ran around it as well as under it.

"Where did she go? Hokuto-san said that she'll wait."

Subaru didn't move and watched as the young teen searched around in a hastily manner. The man just turned and started to take his leave.

"I don't get why she wouldn't want to see her own brother!" Kamui exclaimed and noticed that Subaru was steadily walking off. "Subaru! Wait up!" Kamui hurried ran to the older man and took hold of his shoulder.

"Your sister was here! We should go look for her; don't you want to do that?"

"Kamui, if Hokuto-chan was here, I would've notice her presence beforehand, but I didn't." Subaru said bluntly. "Now I need to get back—"

"Then why did you agree to come with me?" Kamui cut him off.

"You dragged me here."

"No, you wanted to see Hokuto-san."

"But I didn't notice her presence."

"That's because she said that she did something she wasn't proud of." Kamui exclaimed. "She didn't tell me what it was, actually she avoided on telling me anything about her whereabouts and exactly why she went missing."

Subaru looked incredibly unease. "Tell me everything she told you."

Kamui explained to him his discussion with Hokuto as they walked back to the teen's house. But when they got to the house, the two got a strange feeling something was wrong, especially when Subaru opened the door.

The house was empty and quiet but an acrid odor caught their attention. Subaru immediately recognized the smell and rushed upstairs with Kamui following tow. The smell was getting stronger and stronger and the two were feeling lightheaded but Subaru managed to barge into one of the rooms.

The room—which was the main bedroom—was coated in fresh blood. The crimson liquid was splattered all over the carpet floor, the bed, the walls, the furniture and even the ceiling. And in the center of the room was an elegant looking sword with a decorated, golden handle.

"Wha—what happened here?" Kamui's eyes widened in fright, steadily walking forward despite all the blood on the carpet. "Okaa-san . . . is this Okaa-san's blood?"

Subaru was speechless; he tried to stop Kamui from going near the sword when a familiar voice chimed in.

"Ugh, did it really have to be this messy?"

The two turned and saw Hokuto sitting on top of the dresser; the two didn't notice her there before. Hokuto was grimacing at the mess, her arms were folded and her legs were crossed, showing off her leather, high heel boots that had silver buckles for straps.

"Hokuto-chan!" Subaru exclaimed.

Hokuto looked at Subaru for a second before jumping off of the dresser and headed towards the sword. " I really didn't hope for you two to come here like this." Hokuto took hold of the sword's handle but Subaru caught her arm.

"Hokuto-chan, what are you doing?"

"Taking the sword, it's not Kamui's anymore." Hokuto responded plainly.

"What?" Kamui asked and turned to Subaru in confusion but the man only focused his attention on Hokuto.

"What do you mean it isn't his?"

Hokuto broke Subaru's hold on her arm and she retreated back with the sword in her hands as she aimed the sword at the two, mainly Subaru.

"It's not his because you want to prevent Kamui from having your fate, but considering that Sei-chan never killed me, things have changed, and since Sei-chan's at a limit and you never used your Sakurazukamori powers, someone has to take your place."

Subaru's eyes widened. "Hokuto-chan, what are you saying . . .?"

"What am I saying? I should be the one asking you that!" Hokuto exclaimed, keeping the sword aimed at Subaru. "When you said that you became the new Sakurazukamori, I was in shock! I ran away and lived with Yuko-san—"

"The Dimensional Witch?"

"That's right, because I was in a separate dimension, away from Tokyo like you ordered me too. But do you know the real reason why I ran away? It wasn't just because of you, it was because of what happened when I was going to Kyoto. You see, when I was on the train, Sei-chan happened to be there and I was sharing a conversation with him. I got out my mirror and pretended to look at my reflection, but I was also looking at Sei-chan's as well, this was in order to copy some of his powers. Of course, I found out his powers were limited from Yuko-san so I asked her to grant me a wish. My wish was that I could take on your role as the Sakurazukamori, and my price was that, if either you or Sei-chan died, I would officially be the next heir to the Sakurazukamori clan. And since I'm taking your role, I'm also a Dragon of Earth, the leader to be precise, so I'll be taking this sword and be on my way."

Hokuto was about to retract the sword but Subaru grabbed hold of the blade, despite it cutting his skin and forcing blood to spill. His head was down and so his eyes were hidden under his bangs.

"So you're saying. . .that you wished to have the powers of the Sakurazukamori? Which means you've been murdering people?"

"That's what the role is, Subaru." Hokuto said solemnly and then clutched onto the sword's handle firmly. "I didn't want to be the Sakurazukamori in the first place! I only did this to keep you safe!"

"How does knowing that my own sister is a killer safe!"

"Did you want me dead instead?" Hokuto retorted, ripping the sword out of Subaru's grasps and stormed towards the window. "You're in love with Sei-chan-a coldblooded killer-so why can't you still love me?"Hokuto bit down on her lower lip as she stared grimly at her shocked brother who dropped down to his knees. She jerked her head away bitterly and yanked open the window where her shikigami—the heron—came flying in and stood beside her. The heron then wrapped its wings around its owner like a blanket and the two disappeared in a wave of sakura petals.

"Because. . ." Subaru's knees trembled beneath him as he sat there staring at his bleeding palms. "I don't want you to be like this. . ."

* * *

A/N: I belive now an angy mob will be forming. . . but who was expecting that? Yes, the heron shikigami belonging to Hokuto was pretty obvious, but what about everything else? I don't belive anyone noticed that Hokuto's mirror was actaully magical. She actually used it's powers during her train ride with Sei-chan and copied some of his powers! I just made everything so twisted now! Ohohohohohohoho! I feel so evil for having the twins argue, it's not right but it was gonna happen. Oh I was just thinking back on the earlier chaps of this fic on how kind the twins were to each other and now this! Plot twist, much? I am having so much fun with this fic! XD And of course this isn't the big climax, we still have other stuff to cover, and if you're wondering if Rainbow Bridge is gonna happen, it most certainly is coz that's where the climax will be, but I can't tell you when it's gonna happen~ Possibly soon, possibly later~ ohohohohohoho~


	20. Chapter 20

Subaru stared out of the window with a broken expression. His eyes were blurred with warm tears that only ran down his cheeks like frozen rain. He didn't move from his spot despite Kamui's calling and begging for him to come back. Kamui then hoisted the man up, having difficultly since Subaru wasn't giving much support. Subaru just fell limp on top of the teen, having his head resting on Kamui's shoulder as well as his arms. Subaru was surprisingly light as Kamui dragged the man out of the house and back into the apartment.

Kamui set Subaru in a chair facing the window. His head was hung down and his arms lay limp on his lap. Kamui knelt down in front of the man and took his hand. The teen's eyes were glazed with tears as well.

"Subaru. . ." Kamui felt the blood crawling on his fingertips and took notice of the man's bleeding hands. He hurried off to the bathroom to get some band aids.

Subaru raised his head up and watched the teen leave before facing the window. It was becoming dark rather quickly.

Kamui came back with band aids and began to wrap the white cloth around the man's wounded hands. Subaru was still looking out solemnly; tears were continually dripping down his face that seemed to pale more. His melting emerald eyes barely blinked as they focused on the sky for several minutes before Kamui grabbed his attention.

"I'll go make dinner . . . do you have any ramen in the kitchen?" Kamui asked, doing his best to put up a smile, but it was hard due to the tears still flowing out.

Subaru nodded once before gazing down at his hands, finally realizing that Kamui bandaged them. He lifted up his left hand to examine up close before unwinding the bandage and letting out the blood.

Kamui frightfully took the man's hand but then saw the inverted pentagrams planted into the skin. The blood didn't touch the mark, but the scars were a deep red like they've been recently carved into.

"This—"Kamui began, but Subaru yanked his hand away and placed it under his lips. Like in a trance, his eyes showed no emotion as his lips subconsciously met with the back of his hand.

Kamui—bewildered—stood up and began to head to the kitchen. "I'll . . . be making dinner. Please stay right there."

Subaru was too busy caressing his hand to hear the slightest of what the teen just said.

* * *

Hokuto stood at the water's edge, her gaze focused on the gulls that were peculiarly quiet today.

"You weren't supposed to do that. . ." Kakyo's humdrum voice broke the woman's reverie. "Kamui was supposed to take the sword."

"Why would the fate of the world be in his control?" Hokuto asked, now facing the dreamseer who was now at her side. "He's far too young."

"It's his destiny." Kayo bluntly said.

"That doesn't make any sense." Hokuto frowned deeply, slapping her hands on her hips in which the fabric of her pajama rustled a bit. "Then what's my destiny? What's Subaru's destiny? If you know what Kamui's destiny is suppose to be. What about us!"

Kakyo merely just sighed and just gazed gravely at the gulls that were still quiet and were circiling around their heads in an endless cycle. "Hokuto-chan. . . the more you change the future, the less I know of what will happen to you and your brother. Because you share the powers of the Sakurazukamori and possess the holy sword, you are now a Dragon of Earth like me. Your brother opposes you on this event and—"

"Yeah, yeah, our powers are opposite as well. I have more powers of the Sakurazukamori than Subaru does, but he has more powers of the Sumeragi than I do. I think it's been pretty clear that we're both complete opposites now—"

"I wasn't going to say that." Kakyo quietly interrupted. "You'll have to fight your brother in order to end your role as the Sakurazukamori. Currently there's three Sakurazukamoris, but there's only suppose to be one."

"Sei-chan doesn't count since his powers are limited." Hokuto noted, sitting down on the sand and trailing her fingers delicately on the surface of the water. "And Subaru can never kill anyone . . . so I took the role."

Kakyo's face turned grave and he shook his head disappointedly. "Neither I or your brother are please with that . . . you're too kind to kill anyone, Hokuto-chan."

"What other choice do I have?" Hokuto slapped her hand at the water and scared a few incoming sea gulls who retreated back to the sky. "Do you want me to be killed or kill others so Subaru doesn't have to do it! But if there's any other thing that doesn't screw up my fate, spit it out right now!"

Kakyo closed his eyes and dipped his hand downward. "I'm sorry, Hokuto-chan. . . You made this choice and I don't know what to do. You and your brother keep on changing events that weren't meant to be changed. Now that the future has taken a new turn, my visions have been blurred to know what exactly is going to happen in your future. But I do know this . . . and this is my last advice. . ." Kakyo opened his eyes and took hold of Hokuto's hands. He brought her up to her feet and restlessly looked into her emerald eyes.

"When you and your brother meet each other again, it'll be a week from now at Rainbow Bridge. Blood will be shed there, but I don't know who's . . . but I may know in my next vision, that's unless something else is changed as well. But the only thing I want you to change is what you really think is right. Neither you nor I want anything else bad to happen; unfortunately tragedy will occur again no matter what. . ."

"I understand. . ." Hokuto nodded solemnly, gazing back at the ocean and feeling a chilly breeze blow past her and playing at her hair. "I'll see what I can do; after all, the future hasn't been decided yet."

* * *

Kamui came back to the bedroom with a bowl of ramen noodles. Subaru wasn't sitting in the chair; instead, he was standing outside on the balcony. Kamui quietly stepped into the balcony and tried not to disturb the man since he was trapped in his own reverie. His eyes were still hollow, emotionless and empty. Kamui's voice couldn't reach him even if he tried, so the teen just went inside and set the bowl on the nightstand.

Kamui went back to the kitchen to clean up; he seriously didn't know how to make out on what happened. His mother died—not exactly sure how but a sword appeared—Hokuto appeared as well, took the sword and left, corrupting Subaru since Hokuto was now an assassin and. . . . Kamui was getting a headache from thinking of this. He was supposed to take the sword instead? Seriously, what is going on?

Suddenly Kamui felt another presence nearby, a familiar presence. The teen dashed back to the balcony and saw a hawk glaring at him. It was a shikigami with piercing amber eyes that froze the teen at the spot, but broke out of the trance when he saw the balcony empty. The curtains that blocked the entryway swayed crazily as a fierce wind howled and the shikigami disappeared in the shadows of the incoming night.

"Subaru?" Kamui entered the balcony and wandered in circles on where the man might've gone. Concern overwhelmed him drastically and he hurried off to find Subaru.

* * *

Subaru stood at the base of the large sakura tree. The branches formed an arch canopy, drawing him closer to the trunk who desperately want to sink him in. Subaru stood his ground and wordlessly gazed up at the rosy petals, all tainted in a beautiful pink color. The sun was setting in the distance, causing the petals to glow a deep scarlet. Beams of white light sprouted past the branches and made Subaru's eyes sparkle dimly, but it made his left eye shimmer a captivating gold hue.

Some petals broke off of the branches and fluttered down in a waltz, landing gracefully on the ground. Subaru watched this silently before hearing the footsteps of one that a wolf would make when hunting its prey. Subaru turned and was faced to face with Seishiro standing casually in the empty, grass area. A casual grin crossed his unusually pale face and his amber eyes indicated something of either the obvious or a secret.

"So, Hokuto-chan's the new Sakurazukamori." Seishiro proclaimed, no scent of blood was on him to prove his point. There wasn't even the tiniest hint of bloodstain smeared on his billowing coat. His gaze was fixed on the tree, his smile never ceasing. "She's doing a pretty good job."

Subaru held a blank expression, keeping his emotions to himself. "How long have you known this?"

"Ever since she copied my powers way back then," Seishiro replied, his eyes were smiling as well. "But she had copied _all _of my powers, there wasn't a limit, but she wished for the powers of the Sakurazukamori, correct?"

"What do you mean there wasn't a limit?" Subaru exclaimed, his voice cracking the first sign of emotion in a while.

" As much as I love my job, I didn't feel the need to do it, and you can't do it for obvious reasons, so Hokuto-chan was my final offer since she would do anything you"

"You set this up, then. . ."

Seishiro shrugged and kicked a small rock a few feet away in a childish manner. "What can I say when it's our turn to change the future. So since my price wasn't the limit of my powers, my price is. . ." Seishiro paused as he caught a handful of sakura petals in his hand before letting them go in Subaru's direction.

"Just disappearing as the ghost that I am."

Subaru stepped forward with the blast of the petals brushing past his face. The wind whistled clearly in his ears as he took notice of the older man's figure. The sun's light was literally shinning through him, making his amber eyes taking on a more haunting approach.

"Y—you're a spirit? Then how come I couldn't—"

"You couldn't tell? Please, you couldn't tell that Hokuto-chan and I were intruding your bed way back during the year of the bet as well as other events. You're so naïve, but that's what makes you cute, Subaru-kun."

Subaru felt the branches surrounding him take hold of his arms and gave him a gentle squeeze by Seishiro's silent command. He walked towards Subaru with his body in solid form again. The man cupped the base of Subaru's chin, his fingers were deathly cold like a corpse and the younger man cringed. Seishiro kept a strong hold, remembering back in the day where he revealed the boy his true motives and then to the incident on Rainbow Bridge.

"You pierced my heart that day and I would've gone to where all spirits go, but I wasn't interested. Instead, I stayed in the eye that Fuma gave you and came with you to the past. I took over my past's role, acting like I was alive with my powers intact but I couldn't kill. I was fairly alive back then so I played my role well. However, I've been here far too long and especially since I've broken a few important laws in the time and space continuum—but who cares about that anymore? I went to see the Dimension Witch while you were at the hospital, but I didn't make a wish. Instead, she gave me an advice since it seems she has the mind of your sister. She says I have to tell you something before I can officially disappear. Don't know what it is, but it probably ties in with what Hokuto-chan told me a long time ago."

Seishiro let go of Subaru's chin while the branches loosened their hold. His fingers trailed up to the younger man's cheek and delicately caressed it.

"She said that there's no one who can't love someone."

Subaru stared in disbelief; his sister actually said that to Seishiro? He was about to respond, but his words were gulped when Seishiro's lips met his. The tree branches have finally freed Subaru who was unaware that the tree was dissolving into petals. The tainted petals turned to white and glided down in the same aspect as snow.

Subaru kissed back as he feebly wrapped his arms around Seishiro who was beginning to disappear. Subaru clung to the man desperately, holding him close and begging in his mind for him not to leave. But when Subaru opened his eyes, he just saw the last of the pure white petals gliding to the ground. However, Subaru heard the man's voice echoing in the chilly air.

"_Looks like you won, Subaru-kun." _

A distressing smile crossed Subaru's lips and he reached down to pick up the petals. Holding them in a gentle embrace, he quietly thanked Seishiro for finally making up his mind.

* * *

A/N: Gah! The last part seems so rushed but I didn't know how to extend it! Anyways, I was gonna have Sei-chan die in the next chap, but since I haven't updated this in a while, I decided to kill him off in this chap. Well, technically he has been dead for this entire fic so I can't really say kill off. . . but wasn't that twisted? Sei-chan keeps on confusing everyone! Just know that Sei-chan was a spirit, had a limit as well as his powers being limited since he can't kill anyone and all that stuff that makes our head want to explode coz Clamp likes to confuse everyone, therefore I do the same. Also, I can't do love confessions without them being cheesy! So the last part was hard to do especially since Sei-chan is such a complicated guy, I have trouble writing his last words! I couldn't have Sei-chan say "I love you." so him saying that Subaru won the bet was pretty much a love confession. Now, Rainbow Bridge event is coming soon! What do you think is gonna happen? Oh the possibilites since I've been throwing twists in every chapter now! The future just hasn't made up it's mind on what;s gonna happen, it's in fact very, very confused! I feel very bad for Kamui, he doesn't know what's going on! Don't worry, things will be clearly explained to him eventually~


	21. Chapter 21

"So that's what happened. . ."

When Kamui found Subaru walking out of the park looking downcast, Kamui insisted on taking the man to the ice cream shop that they usually go to. Once they were there and Kamui ordered both of their ice creams, Subaru halfheartedly explained to the teen everything on what was going on.

Kamui finished his ice cream, but Subaru barely touched it, he usually never does when they go out for ice cream.

"I'm sorry that I haven't told you before, I wanted to keep you safe." Subaru exclaimed. His untouched ice cream was dripping down the waffle cone and spilling on his fingers and counter.

"I understand, but. . ." Kamui's voice trailed off as he stared solemnly at Subaru. "You could've told me sooner so I could help."

"I didn't want you to get involved, not again . . . and so I'm taking your place as the leader of the Dragons of Heaven—"

"But Hokuto-san is the leader of the Dragons of Earth."

"And Fuma would've been the leader if I didn't change your fate, and Hokuto-chan did so as well. She became the Sakurazukamori, and since Seishiro-san has been dead all this time, that means Hokuto-chan is officially the Sakurazukamori . . . but I have to do something about it. I have to go see the Dimensional Witch again to make another wish."

"Subaru. . ." Kamui was taken aback, but knew that Subaru was serious by the stern determination in his eyes.

"My last wish was to change my past and prevent events from occurring, and my price was something I was able to gain back, but this time. . ."

"What is your wish?" Kamui inquired, whipping his sticky fingers with a napkin.

"I'm not entirely sure yet, but whatever it is, and whatever the price may be. . ." Subaru placed a hand on Kamui's shoulder and grasped onto it. "I don't want you to do anything, this is between Hokuto-chan and I. So whatever happens, please live in the life I couldn't have, a normal one."

"But—"

"Please, I'm your guardian, Kamui, and I have to take care of you so you don't get hurt." Subaru proclaimed, keeping hold of the teen's shoulder.

Kamui shook his head. "You're not just my guardian, you're my brother."

Subaru's eyes widened slightly but they softened as a smile crossed his lips. "A brother, huh. . .thanks, Kamui."

"For what?" Kamui cocked his head to the side.

"For meeting you, you really helped me, and I would've probably gone insane if I never met you."

"Oh, well I'm glad I met you too, Subaru. I would've, um. . ."

"Been the leader of the Dragon of Heaven." Subaru pointed out as he finally decided to take a bite of his already melting ice cream.

"Yeah, and I would've have to fight Fuma. . . that would be weird, Fuma's one of my friends. But you have to fight your own sister. . ."

"I can't fight her." Subaru muttered under his breath and closed his eyes. "And she can't fight me either. . . and so I have to do something."

"So that's where the wish comes in."

"Yes, but I have to think this out before I see Hokuto-chan again."

"And where would you meet her at?"

"Most likely Rainbow Bridge, because that's where I killed Seishiro-san."

* * *

A/N: Yes, I know this is another short chap, but this is leading up to the climax which is next chapter actually! Yes, next chap is Rainbow Bridge! And since the climax is next chap, the fic is coming to a close in two chapters. I want to get the fic done before the one year anniversay of this fic's first update, so. . . yeah, I'm not rushing the fic or anything (well, except for this chap which was pretty short ) but the next two chaps are gonna tie in everything and yes, there will be twists~ Oh and sorry for squishing your brains last chap and having Sei-chan being dead the entire time, but look on the bright side, Sei-chan is probaly sitting on a fluffy, pink, diamond-encrusted cloud with binoculars and popcorn as he watches Subaru's every move! XD


	22. Chapter 22

"I'm home, Subaru."

Kamui was completely soaked to the bone as he scrambled to take his drenched jacket off of him. The apartment was dark so he presumed that Subaru wasn't back yet. Kamui bit down on his lip nervously and hung his jacket up in the closet.

Kamui wandered off to put on his warm pajamas and slippers. Kamui waited on the couch for Subaru to come back, but after minutes turned to hours, the teen started to fall asleep. His head lolled back and forth and his eyes were bloodshot as he stared up at the dreary ceiling aimlessly. He almost toppled off of the couch as his body gave in but he jerked himself awake.

It was now ten after five in the morning. . .

Kamui lingered to Subaru's bedroom, hoping to find the man sleeping there but he never returned. Instead, Kamui found a sheet of paper on the nightstand. Kamui picked up the sheet of paper and recognized Subaru's delicate handwriting, noticing that it was a letter. Kamui begun to read, just as the pouring rain from outside started to slow down. The only sound now was the rain silently tapping on the glass from the window behind him. Little lighting from the moon's light barely supported the room, but Kamui was suddenly frozen at the spot by the words shown thoroughly to him. He couldn't reach the light switch, so he kept reading. And when he stopped, the rain stopped as well.

* * *

7 hours earlier

Rain was pouring down harshly, but no thunder or lighting was heard or seen. The constant beating of the rain pounding on the road was the only thing audible in the clouded night. The dim lighting of the street lights flickered on eerily as two shadows loomed in from opposite sides of the bridge. High heel shoes clicked like coins clattering to the floor while worn out boots mimic the rain in a more subtle way.

A heron shikigami stood gracefully at Hokuto's side who revealed herself under the white light which illuminated her leather attire. Subaru just stood within the curtain of rain draping over him. His three headed crow shikigami was at his side as well and was looking at the same direction with poise.

Hokuto gazed down, her hands behind her back and legs crossing as she stood under the street lamp.

"So. . . Sei-chan's gone."

"How do you know?"

"The dreamseer, Kakyo, told me." Hokuto confirmed. "He also told me that you're from the future and the things you've done to help me. . . he also told me that Kamui was suppose to be the one to get the sword, but I couldn't let that boy take it."

"I didn't want Kamui to deal with this again either." Subaru exclaimed.

"And we're both stuck in this mess." Hokuto closed her eyes and an illusion abruptly covered the area, keeping the rain out while the sound was still audible. Nevertheless the beating of the rain sounded more like the beating of hearts.

Sakura petals were scattered all over what seemed to be a glass floor. Subaru found himself encased in a cubic room made completely out of mirrors. Each mirror—clear as crystal with streaks of silver lighting—showed a reflection of Subaru at certain ages. Below Subaru was a reflection of himself as an infant. His eyes were closed but then started to open as a muted yawn was erupted. Subaru stepped away but was then faced with his nine year old self in the mirror on his right.

The child Subaru was wearing his shikifuku, smiling innocently as he raised the back of his bare hands. But his smile then dropped when his hands started to bleed and the marks were clearly visible. He mouthed a scream and Subaru was then faced with his sixteen year old self on his left. He was performing a spell, mouthing a chant as he changed positions of his hands with closed eyes. As he opened his eyes, his gloves were ripped off, revealing the marks that were constantly bleeding. The sixteen year old Subaru fell back into a catatonic state, sitting on a lone chair blankly and staring at his older self coldly.

Behind him, Subaru was faced with his sixteen year old self running aimlessly as he started to age to his twenty five year old self. His flashy clothes faded to gray, his bright emerald eyes dulled, his hair shortened and that once cheery smiled that beamed every day was nonexistent. The marks on his clutched hands were clearly shown and bleeding once more. Then the twenty five year old Subaru stopped and looked at the back of the hands. As they bleed, they dropped down from the mirror and meandered to the floor, lingering towards the real Subaru. The reflection Subaru mouthed words that couldn't be understood.

_I was never there to help you_

Hokuto's voice echoed in the air as the Subaru's in the mirrors disappeared and were replaced by an adult Subaru as the Sakurazukamori, except for the ceiling. The mirror in the ceiling didn't have a reflection, but had sakura branches hanging down from it, somewhat forming a cage overhead.

_And now you've became the Sakurazukamori, and so have I. _

All the reflections showed himself touching the other side of the mirror with blood coated hands. Their right eyes were haunting amber colors which glowed and brightened the room, showing countless, bloody corpses on the floor. Deep holes were plunged through their chests to where their hearts once were, but the cavernous sounds of their hearts were beating simultaneously.

_I've killed so many to prevent you from doing so, you can never kill and it scared me to death when I first plunged my hand into my first victim. __But since Sei-chan's been gone for years now, you've practically became him . . . because of that eye. _

Subaru raised his hand up to his right eye, and all the reflections in the mirror did the same except that their hands were bloodstained. Then the image of Seishiro appeared in front of him, smiling amusingly before fading back to himself.

_But then I realized I became like Sei-chan as well. I disappeared and left you for years like he did, and came back as a murderer. _

"Hokuto-chan—"

Subaru turned and saw his sister behind him. Her hands were clearly bloodstained, and were clutched around the sacred sword. She then dropped the sword on the ground in which the entire room shattered into countless shards. The shards fell into a unknown abyss and the twins were left in the dark, saved for candles clustered around them.

"I saw Yuko-san again." Hokuto announced, her back was towards her brother as she looked straight at nothing. "Kakyo told me you did too, just after you told Kamui everything."

"What did you saw her for?" Subaru asked.

Hokuto's shikigami appeared beside her again. Hokuto petted the creatures head with bloodstained fingers but the feathers never got dirty.

"A wish, what else?"

"What was the wish?"

Hokuto stopped herself and took a brief glance at one of the candles. Red wax dripped down as a blazing flame danced wildly in the darkness, greeting the air harshly with a chilling atmosphere when it should be warm.

"We have the same wish, so we're sharing the same price."

Subaru was taken aback as one by one; each candle's light flickered off. A flash of lightning roared out as the illusion broke apart, but the rain covered the scene as blood was spilled. The red liquid flew in the air, mixing with the droplets as they became silver. No more sound was heard afterwards, the rain was mute but it continued to fall.

_Kamui, I'm sorry for all the things I've put you through, so hopefully when this is over, you could find the happiness that I could never gain. I went to Yuko-san's just after we left the ice cream shop and I made a wish. I wished for everything to be normal, for Hokuto-chan to not be the Sakurazukamori, for you not to deal with a terrible fate. It's impossible for everyone to be happy, so I did the best that I could. The price was rather heavy though, therefore, that price was. . . _

_

* * *

_

A/N: An endless supply of candy! That's what Subaru's price was! XD Oh, don't you just wish? Ohohoho~ Okay, there was really no need for the shikigamis to appear, but I just love their shikigamis! I just had to put them in one more time~ Anyways, final chapter is coming up next! Dunno when, but it'll definitly be before Febuary! Oh and about the illusion, I didn't want there to just be sakura petals and a big sakura tree in the middle, so I put in lots and lots of mirrors! So. . .yeah. . . it's a school night and I should be going to bed now ^^ And one more thing, yes Kamui lives with Subaru now since he's his guardian and Kam's mom kicked the bucket and no I dunno where Kamui sleeps, probaly on the couch or something, I dunno. . . -cough-hesleepswithSubaru-cough-* yeah. . . hopefully you enjoyed the second to lastchap~


	23. Chapter 23

The first thing Kakyo witnessed as he opened his eyes for the first time in years was being surrounded by a canopy strewn with patterns of butterflies gliding as the fabric rustled with a passing gesture of his hand, brushing away and finding himself face to face with the Dimensional Witch.

Yuko was standing elegantly in a rather revealing velvet nightgown that draped down to the laminated floor. Black Mokona was perched upon her shoulder with a sign of concern, considering that Kakyo woke up at a bad time.

"So we meet." Yuko was the first to speak after a minute of utter silence. "I assume you know what happened?"

"Yes." Kakyo acknowledged, closing his eyes and figuring out what was to happen tonight because of the final wishes the Sumeragi twins made. "Hokuto-chan's wish was to end her reign as the Sakurazukamori as well as ending her brother's reign as Sakurazukamori and Sumeragi so he and everyone else can go on with their normal lives. Since their wishes were the same, Subaru-san took both prices so Hokuto-chan doesn't share the same fate. They both wanted everything to be normal and everyone to be happy, therefore, the end of the world won't happen."

Yuko slid open the door behind her as Mokona went ahead to the other room. "The twins have been back for a while now; Hokuto-chan would be much appreciated if you came."

"Of course." Kakyo nodded and followed the Witch down a dimly lit hallway and into another bedroom. There, Hokuto was sitting—stiff as stone—on a stool holding a small, cylinder container that Kakyo couldn't make out what was inside till he saw the younger twin laying in bed with bloodstained bandages covering his eyes, or at least his now empty sockets.

Hokuto hunched over and held the container close to her with one hand, while in the other she held her brother's hand, lightly squeezing it in comfort. Kakyo came over and wrapped his arms around Hokuto's shoulders. Recognizing the touch, silent tears rolled down Hokuto's swollen and weary eyes.

"I could've taken the price but Subaru didn't want me to go through with it. . ." Hokuto murmured, her voice choked up with tears. "While my powers were in the mirror that is now broken, Subaru's powers are within his eyes, which is how Subaru was able to gain the Sakurazukamori's powers within Sei-chan's eye. Therefore, I. . ." Hokuto squeezed tightly on Subaru's hand as she struggled to say the words as more tears spilled out.

Kakyo thought it was best to take the container away from Hokuto, but she kept a strong hold of it. All the dreamseer could do right now was just keep his love locked in his gentle embrace and calm her down with heartening words. Unfortunately, there was another part of the price. Considering that Subaru lost his powers, his life span has shortened dramatically. Therefore, Subaru wouldn't be able to see what he did, nevertheless know what the better future would be like, but he'll still have time to know what happens.

Black Mokona hopped onto the bed just as Subaru started to gain consciousness. His fingers laced around his sister's and Mokona jumped more of the bed as it watched Subaru moving his head and struggling to sit up as he searched dazedly where he was.

"Subaru's awake!" Mokona announced excitedly and bounced on the man's lap.

Subaru leaned himself against the bed post and gestured his head to Hokuto's and Kakyo's direction. Recognizing the touch of his sister's hand, he would've cried but no tears could be shed again. So Hokuto was the one to share the tears.

"Hokuto-chan. . .You're alright?"

Hokuto wiped away her tears and broke into a weak smile. Her eyes glistened with the lighting of the room that kept away the hint of dullness from them. She too lost her powers of the Sumeragi, but she never had much to begin with.

"I should be asking you that." Hokuto remarked and she was received a gentle hug from her brother. Kakyo moved back to give the twins space as the two comforted each other and quietly discussed on how their Obaa-san were going to kill them. They nervously laughed and acted as if they were children again.

Kakyo watched while Yuko decided to leave them alone, especially since it was so late, she wanted to go to bed. But Kakyo just stood there at the doorway till Hokuto dragged him over and forced him to shake hands with Subaru.

"Oh, Subaru, I never told you, Kakyo's my boyfriend."

Subaru was taken aback but he shook Kakyo's hand. "Nice to meet you." Subaru turned over to Hokuto. "When did you two meet?"

"A while back." Hokuto thought deeply but didn't really remember when she met the dreamseer. "Yeah. . .for some reason I never told you but heck, there's lots of things you never told me, so now we're even."

"I guess." Subaru scratched the back of his head, still confused on why he never knew that Hokuto had a boyfriend. Have they been dating? Then Subaru remembered something as he got himself out of bed and almost tripped over his feet but was supported by Hokuto.

"Wait, where's Kamui?"

* * *

It was just at the peak of dusk when Kamui found himself sleeping on Subaru's bed. He fell asleep while waiting for Subaru to come back, even after he read the letter he waited. Kamui staggered into the bathroom to wash up and almost hit his head on the wall since he was too tired to notice where he was going. The teen looked at himself in the mirror and found black circle under his eyes, he barely got any sleep. Worse, it was a school day and Kamui only had at least an hour to get ready.

After Kamui washed up, he decided to skip breakfast and head over to the school, hopefully making it on time. He called up Fuma and asked if he could get a ride from him, in which his friend agreed and on the other line, he heard Kotori squeal cheerfully.

Kamui was able to get everything ready. . .except for his homework. The teen sighed as he now waited at the sidewalk where he would patiently wait for his friends to pick him up. Usually he'll walk to school, but everything has been so messed up lately, he needs some time with his best friends.

"Hey, Kamui!"

Kamui's head perked up curiously as he saw Hokuto running up to him with Subaru not far behind with a walking stick. The teen was suddenly glomped by the older twin while Subaru just stood at the side, facing the direction in front of him blankly.

"H—Hokuto-san!" Kamui's eyes widen in surprise as he was being squeezed to death. Hokuto let go and backed away to make room for Subaru to pass.

Subaru walked steadily over to Kamui and reached out a hand but Kamui ran in to hug the older man instead. Subaru was taken by surprise but hug Kamui back.

Hokuto smiled and looked back to see two teens riding their bikes. One of them waved to Kamui while the other told her to keep both hands on the handle.

Fuma and Kotori stopped their bikes in front of Kamui who got on Kotori's bike (since he was pretty much forced too). Kamui said goodbye to the twins and they drove off to school down a pathway of sakura trees lined up in an orderly fashion. But there was something a bit odd about the sakura trees that Hokuto noticed.

"Hey, Subaru, the sakura blossoms are a different color today . . . they're all white. I think they'll be that color for now on."

* * *

"I see . . . so you can't use your powers anymore." The 12th head of the Sumeragi clan was sitting in the back porch of the estate while talking with Subaru on the phone.

"Is there anyone else in the family that can take on my role?" Subaru asked.

"There are some of your cousins . . . but right now, as long as I'm alive, I'm the current head. But how are you going to spend the rest of yours?"

"I'll probably stay in Tokyo with Hokuto-chan, but we'll visit."

"How has Hokuto-chan been doing?"

"She's doing well, she has a boyfriend."

The 12th head heard Hokuto's laughter in the background and was telling Subaru not to tell their Obaa-san about it.

"A boyfriend? I'd like to know about this person before you even date him."

Hokuto was clearly listening and she snatched the phone from Subaru and started talking. "I'm _twenty five_ Obaa-chan. This is the time where I should already be raising my own family. Don't treat me like a little kid."

"You act like one, Hokuto-chan. And is that the way you speak to me for the first time in years? It was very foolish of you to run away like that."

"Um. . . did Subaru told you _why_ I had to leave?" Hokuto looked nervously at the phone and then to Subaru.

"Yes, and it was still foolish of you . . . but at least you and your brother are alive."

"Yeah! How great is that?" Hokuto smiled widely but then it dropped when she looked at Subaru who was sitting silently on a chair in front of the window. He now had a pair of glass eyes but usually hid them behind glasses. His eyes were dull and held little bit of shine; it just made him look so downcast.

"Hokuto-chan, I have to go now."

"Oh, really?" Hokuto pouted.

"Yes, please take good care of yourself and Subaru-san."

"You too, Obaa-chan."

* * *

_9 years later _

"So where should we sit?" Kotori asked curiously as she gazed around Ueno park that was filled with people having picnics together and watching the sakura blossoms that were all in full bloom.

"Here would be nice." Hokuto chose one of the last remotes spots in the park, but the sound of laughter and chat in the distance gave the peacefulness away. Hokuto spread out a large blanket, but her children—twins they were, a boy and a girl—kept messing it up. Kakyo picked the twins up and placed them on the bench while giving them dangos to distract them.

Kakyo helped Hokuto with the blanket while Kamui and Kotori (who were newlyweds) and Fuma unpack all the bento boxes. Subaru was sitting down at the base of one of the sakura trees, picking at the grass a bit childishly but was then pulled up by his niece and nephew to be played with.

"Oji-san!" The twins sang as they brought over Subaru over to sit with them on the blanket. Once Subaru sat down, he heard the kids complaining to each other that only one of them can sit on their uncle's lap and asked Subaru what to do in whiny voices.

"You both can sit on my lap." Subaru said and the twins happily pounced on him, almost making the man topple over.

"Don't hurt your Oji-san you two." Hokuto scolded and took a bite out of a riceball. "And here's your bento boxes, don't get food on your Oji-san either." Hokuto handed the twins their bento boxes while having the riceball stuffed in her mouth.

Subaru reached for his bento box but Hokuto also gave him his. "I didn't forget you either, but everyone else has to help themselves." His sister mumbled and chewed down on the riceball.

As everyone ate and chatted, Subaru went back to his spot underneath the sakura tree. He leaned against it and took off his glasses, placing them beside them.

"Subaru, are you going to eat?" Kamui's voice piped out through the loud chewing of the children as they munched rather quickly on their food, eager to get their hands on the desert their Okaa-san made.

"No thanks." Subaru responded, folding his hands on his lap and gesturing his head to the side, facing to the direction his family were. Even though he couldn't see them, he could imagine all their smiling faces. Hokuto said that her children were the exact images of when she and Subaru were little, so whenever they play, it was like watching a long lost video of them. For Subaru, it was just an audio tape.

The children's laughter, there was so much joy and innocence in them. The small tapping of their feet running was even soothing to listen to when they chase each other in a game of tag. Their uplifting chatter and their humorous arguments erupted through any other sound, reminding Subaru of the only joys he had in his childhood.

"Your miso soup is going to get cold!" Hokuto chided with food in her mouth.

"Please don't eat with your mouth full." Kakyo told his wife, he wasn't eating much but at least he's enjoying himself.

"But Subaru's going to _starve_ if he doesn't eat." Hokuto exclaimed, it sounded like she was going to pull a tantrum. She really didn't change, and Subaru was just fine with that, he never wanted his sister to change and be a completely different person.

"I'll be fine, Hokuto-chan, I just want to take a nap." Subaru breathed out a soft, silent sigh as he started to close his eyes.

"Okay, but you better wake up before the kids eat all the dessert!" Hokuto called out, followed by a chorus of the children giggling.

"We'll leave _some_ dessert left!" The kids cried in unison, almost chocking on their food in the process.

"Hey! Don't talk with food in your mouth!" Hokuto scolded, even though she was told not to do that as well. Kakyo was about to explain, but felt there was no need too since he didn't want to be stuck in an argument. And being stuck in an argument was Hokuto was not good, since the winner was always Hokuto and the opponent feels ashamed of himself in the end. The dreamseer didn't even think about trying. . .

"What did you make for desert, Hokuto-chan?" Kamui asked out of curiosity.

" Daifuku cakes, custard pudding, ohagi, shu cream, dangos, manju—"

"It sounds like there's more dessert than actual food, not that I don't mind." Fuma chimed in.

"Well I'd like you all to appreciate my cooking!" Hokuto laughed proudly. Her laughter somewhat ruined the atmosphere since it was more threatening than joyful and Subaru had to deal with it for years.

"How do we know you didn't buy them at the market?" Fuma asked and was received a bonk on the head.

Kamui safely scooted away to avoid Hokuto's wrath and then took notice of Subaru who's eyes were half way close and were gazing down at the grass. The brief moment was silence was cut short when the twins started to pull on the young man's hair. Kamui uttered a small screech which alerted Subaru but he paused and let his head rest back upon the bark. The twins liked to pull on Kamui's hair and ask him constantly how his hair is so wavy.

Kamui and Kotori were also the twin's guardians, considering that Subaru asked to be Kamui's guardian many years ago, Kamui thought it would be good to be a guardian as well.

"Ouch, can you two please stop pulling?"

"They're just having fun, Kamui, lighten up."

"Onii-san, I don't think your hair being pulled is pleasant. Come here you two and give Kotori a hug."

The twins cheered and ran up to hug Kotori who embraced them happily and were quickly engaged in random games like patty cake.

"Wait, you guys need to finish your food!" Kakyo called out but Hokuto smiled and shook her head.

"Just let them play."

"And Subaru?"

"Just let him rest." Hokuto turned to her brother whose eyes were closed but he could clearly hear all the sound around him. It was peaceful harmony . . . the wind whistled and carried the pure white sakura blossoms in the air. A cluster of them drifted into the man's still hands, coating them like gloves. The marks on the back of his hands were now gone.

His niece and nephew are enjoying themselves, reminding him of his childhood. But these kids were going to be able to enjoy it to the fullest, they're living better lives. Everyone was living better lives and were now happy.

Subaru's relaxed position against the sakura tree couldn't be more comfortable. Sakura petals were gliding around in waltzes while the hovering branches were bending over to create a canopy. Every merrily voice was heard and when an argument was erupted, it was covered over by friendly laughter and was forgotten.

Subaru opened his eyes, he saw nothing but he reached out to touch at least one petal drifting by, but his hand was caught by Hokuto's instead.

_Looks like this nap will be a long one. . ._

Subaru's eyes began to close and his fingers started to slip from Hokuto's grasp. The voices of everyone echoed around him, including some from memories of long ago. But then there was silence as he felt the gentle touch of petals crossing his skin.

_But I'll finally get some peace _

Subaru's eyes finally closed as his head dropped to the side. The most peaceful but simplest smile crossed his lips, lighting up his pale face.

_The sakura blossoms are now white . . . and they always will be. Why do you think they're that color, Seishiro-san? _

_

* * *

_

A/N: Oh, gosh, where should I begin? Well, first, thank you everyone who has reviewed, faved, alerted and even looked at this fic! You guys are all awesome so kudos and Mokona shaped cookies to you all! And in speaking of Mokona, I just had to add it in the fic to lighten to mood~ Now I should answer questions. . .yes, the container that Hokuto was holding were Subaru's eyes. . .yes I know that's creepy! But it's Clamp and they do alot of things with eyes so don't judge me~ Second. . . I didn't know how to extend the ending, I feel so ashamed since it seems so short! I probaly made it that way coz it's 3 in the morning and I want sleep~ but I want to finish this fic, even though I'm sad that it's over. I had so much fun with this fic, this is probaly my favorite fic to write. Now about this chap, I honestly didn't know what to name the children, so really I leave that to your imagination. I also did 9 years later coz Sei-chan died when he was 34 so i also made Subs die when he was 34 so I just felt like making that connection. And if any of you have followed my other fics, you'll notice some similarities, one of these things is that I kill off Subaru aloooot and this is the second time I made him blind (which I just noticed O.o). I love him so much that I torture him the most~ ohohoho~

Also, guess what I was listening to while writing this chap? X Japan! XD Hands down, they are one of my fav. bands and Forever Love is my fav. song of all time! Anyways, the ending was probaly the hardest thing to write! I had diffrent interpretations on how Subaru should die and originally both Subaru and Hokuto were going to die but one of the big points of the fic was for Subaru to keep Hokuto alive so I changed it, but the ending was pretty hard to write next to writing Sei-chan's charecter. But one of my fav. parts to write in this fic was the part where Sei-chan left all those phone messeges for Subaru. I thought I really pulled Sei-chan's charecter off there.

Now since this fic is offically over, I'd like to know your feedback on it, what you liked and disliked about it so I know what to look for on my next fic /original story/novel or any other future works. And I definitly know that grammer is a big negative ^^; So, yeah, I like to know what you guys thought of this fic, I'm really proud of it so feedback would be nice~ So again, thank you all very much and I hoped you enjoyed this fic. ^_^


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